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BOOK of the 
BLACK BASS 

By James A. Henshall, M. D. 

*\ 

AUTHOR OF 'camping AND CRUISING IN FLORIDA, ' YE GODS AND 
LITTLE FISHES,'' " BASS, PIKE, PERCH AND OTHERS,'" ETC. 

FULLY ILLUSTRATED 




NEW EDITION 
REVISED AND EXTENDED 



CINCINNATI 

THE ROBERT CLARKE COMPANY 

1904 



«^ 



^v 






By J. A. HENSHALL 

Copyright, 1904, 
r>Y THE ROBERT CLARKE COMPANY 



PREFACE. 



This edition of the Book of the Black Bass includes 
also the Supplement, Moee About the Black Bass, 
and is complete in one volume. A new edition of these 
books has been necessitated owing to the destruction by 
fire of the stereotype plates of the former editions. 
Advantage was taken of this circumstance for a thor- 
ough revision, whereby much of the text of the old 
editions has been eliminated, new matter substituted, 
and other features added more in accordance with the 
present knowledge of the subject. 

The first edition of this book owed its origin to a 
long-cherished desire on the part of the author to give 
to the black bass species their proper place among game- 
fishes, and to create among anglers, and the public 
generally, an interest in two fishes that had never been 
so fully appreciated as their merits deserved, because 
of the want of suitable tackle for their capture, on the 
one hand, and a lack of information regarding their 
habits and economic value on the other. At the present 
day, however, the author's prediction that they would 
eventually become the favorite game-fish of America 
has been fully verified. 

The " Book of the Black Bass " is of an entirely prac- 
tical nature regarding its subject-matter and its illus- 
trations. It has been written more with a view to 
instruct than to amuse or entertain. The reader will, 
therefore, look in vain between its covers for those 

[iii] 



iv Preface. 

rhetorical flights, poetic descriptions, entertaining ac- 
counts and pleasing illustrations of the pleasures and 
vicissitudes of angling, Avhich are usually found in 
works of like character. 

In addition to the scientific and life history of both 
species of Idack bass, it gives a practical treatise on 
angling and fly-fishing, and a full description of all 
tools and tackle employed for their capture. 

I am under obligation to the Century Company for 
the illustrations of " Landing a Double " and the " Still 
Fisher." I Avas desirous to use the former inasmuch as 
it Avas originally draAvn to illustrate one of my article's 
oil black bass fishing, and my friend, the late Prof. 
Alfred ^r. Mayer posed for the drawing. I also extend 
my tlianks to G. F. Corner for the sketch of the '^ Old 
Kentucky Angler. '^ 

It is as Avell to say that the last addition to the subject 
that I intended to make Avas the supplement " More 
About the Black Bass ;" the credit is due, therefore, to 
The Bobert Clarke Company for this ncAV edition of 
my book, Avhicli has risen, phoenix-like, from the ashes 
of the former one. 

BozEMAN, Montana, April, 1904. 

JAMES A. HEI^SHALL. 



CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER. 

I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 
V. 

VI. 
VII. 
VIII. 



IX. 

X. 

XL 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 



XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 

XXIII. 

XIV. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 



PART FIRST. 

SCIENTIFIC AND LIFE HISTORY. 

PAGE. 

Scientific History of the Black Bass 3 

Nomenclature and IVIorphology 26 

General and Special Features of the Black Bass. 45 

Coloration of the Black Bass 53 

Geographical Distribution of the Black Bass . . 64 

Habits of the Black Bass. Spawning, Hatcliing, etc. 74 

Intelligence and Special Senses. Sight, Hearing. 92 

Stocking Waters with Black Bass Ill 



PART SECOND. 

TOOLS, TACKLE AND IMPLE:MENTS. 

Fishing Rods. Fly-rods, Bait -rods, etc 127 

Fishing Reels. Click Reels, Multiplying Reels, etc. 174 

Fishing Lines. Fly Lines, Bait Lines, etc 205 

SiLK-AVoRM Gut. Leaders, Snells, etc 216 

Fish Hooks. Sproat, O'Sbauglinessy, Limerick, etc. 230 

Artificial Flies. Winged Flies, Hackles, etc 243 

Artificial Baits. Trolling-Spoons, Casting-Spoons. 258 
Natural Baits. Minnows, Frogs, Crawfish, etc.... 268 
^Miscellaneous Imple:ments. Fly-Books, Creels, etc. 276 



PART THIRD. 

ANGLING AND FLY FISHING. 

The Philosophy of Angling 307 

Conditions Go^-erning the Biting of Fish 316 

The Black Bass as a Game Fish 338 

Fly Fishing. Tackle, Casting, Instructions, etc ... 357 
Bait Fishing. Tackle, Casting, Instructions, etc... 385 

Still Fishing. Tackle, Baits, Instructions, etc 411 

Trolling. Tackle, General Instructions, etc 420 

Skittering and Bobbing. Tackle, Instructions, etc. 428 
Concluding Remarks. Care of Tackle, Advice, etc. 433 
[v] 



PART I 



SCIENTIFIC AND LIFE HISTORY. 



BOOK OF THE BLACK BASS. 



CHAPTER I. 

SCIENTIFIC HISTORY OF THE BLACK BASS.* 

(MiCEOPTERUS.) 

" For my name and memory, I leave it to men's charitable 
speeches, to foreign nations, and to the next ages." — Bacon. 

The scientific history of the black bass is a most unsatis- 
factory one. This is owing to a train of accidental cir- 
cumstances^ and to the neglect of thorough investigation 
of its earliest history, as recorded by Lacepede, the re- 
nowned French naturalist, in the original edition of his 
great work, " Histoire Naturelle des Poissons." 

This representative American fish w^as first brought to 
the light of science in a foreign land, and under the most 
unfavorable auspices. Its scientific birth was, like Mac- 
duff's, untimely; it was, unhappily, born a monstrosity; 

* In the first edition of this book an exhaustive review of the 
nomenclature and morphology of the black bass species was given, 
introducing a number of lengthy papers and references bearing on 
the subject. In the present edition the author deems it unneces- 
sary to reproduce much of the evidence then used to prove and 
corroborate his arguments, inasmuch as his views have been fully 
concurred in, and his restoration of Lacepede's names for the two 
species has been indorsed and adopted. It is, therefore, deemed 
sufficient to present in a concise form, and in chronological order, 
the perplexing account of the nomenclature of the species from 
their first description by Lacepede to the final restoration of his 
generic and specific names. 

[3] 



4 Book of the Black Bass. 

its baptismal names were, consequently, incongruous, and 
its sponsors were, most unfortunately, foreign naturalists. 

Previous to the first edition of this book, in 1881, it 
had been considered by American naturalists that the first 
scientific description of a black bass was that published 
by Lacepede, about the year 1800, in the work just re- 
ferred to. This description was founded upon a drawing 
of a black bass, and accompanying manuscript notes, sent 
to him by M. Bosc, from the vicinity of Charleston, South 
Carolina, with the local name of "trout," or "trout- 
perch."* This figure, and its accompanying description, 
were said to be so uncertain and inaccurate, that it had 
been considered very doubtful which species of black bass 
was intended to be represented. However, Lacepede named 
it Lahriis salmoides {Labre salmoide) — the "trout-like" 
Lahrus, in accordance with its general appearance and 
vernacular name. The European genus Lahrus embraces a 
groat many species, and some American fishes were re- 
ferred to it by European, as well as by our early American, 
naturalists. ^ 

It had also been held by American ichthyologists that 
it was after this, in 1801, that Lacepede received his first 
example of a -black bass. This was a fine adult specimen 

* Some forty years before M. Bosc sent the drawing of the Caro- 
lina " trout " to LaeepMe, two specimens of the same fish had 
been sent to Linnaeus by Dr. Garden, of Charleston, S, C. These 
specimens were pressed skins of one-half of the fish, retaining the 
vertical fins, and mounted in the same manner as botanical speci- 
mens. Linnaeus failed to describe or name them, but they are still 
preserved in the rooms of the Linnaean Society in the Burlington 
House, London, England, in connection with the Linnaean her- 
barium and library. One of the examples is labeled thus by Dr. 
Garden : '* No. 40. Labrus. Nostralih. Fresh-water Trout." 



History of the Black Bass. 5 

of the small-mouth species, but, unfortunately, it was an 
abnormal specimen, with a deformed dorsal fin, several of 
the last rays having been apparently bitten off and torn 
loose from the others when the fish was young, presenting 
the appearance of a separate small fin. In conformity 
with this accidental peculiarity, Lacepede named it 
Micrvpterus dolomieu — Dolomieu's " small-fin " — sup- 
posing that the little fin was a permanent and distinctive 
feature, and of generic value; he accordingly created the 
new genus ]\Iicro])terus, and named the type in honor of 
his friend Dolomieu, a well-known French mineralogist, 
for whom the mineral dolomite was also named.* 

In 1817, C. S. Kafinesque, another French naturalist, 
then living in America, procured specimens, apparently of 
the small-mouth bass, in the region of Lake Champlain, 
which he named Bodiaiius achigan, from the Canadian 
vulgar name of Vacliigan. He either failed to recognize, 
or repudiated, Lacepede's former descriptions of Labrus 
salmoides and Micropterus dolomieu. During the next few 
years, from 1818 to 1820, while collecting in the Ohio 
River and its tributaries, in Kentucky, Eafinesque took and 
described specimens of the small-mouth black bass, at dif- 
ferent stages of its growth, as Calliurus punctulatiis , Lepo- 
mis trifasciata, Lepomis flexuolaris, Lepomis salmonea, 
Lepomis notata, and Etheostoma calliura, and specimens of 
the large-mouth bass he described as Lepomis pallida. 

In 1822, Charles A. Le Sueur, also a French naturalist, 
while in this country described and named specimens, of 

* In 1887 I personally examined this specimen in the Museum 
of Natural History in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris. It is a fine 
example, about a foot in length, and is in a remarkably good state 
of preservation. It is undoubtedly a small-mouth black bass. 



6 Book of the Black Bass. 

various ages, of the small-mouth black bass, as €iclila 
variabilis, (this name was never published by Le Sueur, 
but specimens sent by him and thus labeled, are still pre- 
served in the Museum D'Histoire Naturelle at Paris,) 
Ciclila fasciaia, Cichla oliiensis and Cichla minima, and 
the large-mouth bass frdm Florida as Cichla fioridana, thus 
dissenting from, or entirely ignoring, Eafinesque. 

In 1828, the great Cuvier and his coadjutor, Valenci- 
ennes, received from Lake Huron a specimen of the large- 
mouth black bass, and which, as in the case of the first 
small-mouth bass sent to France, was, curiously enough, 
an abnormal or mutilated specimen, having likewise a de- 
formed dorsal fin. In this instance, the last two rays of the 
spinous dorsal fin were torn off, thus leaving, apparently, 
two separate and distinct dorsal fins, the first composed of 
six spines, and the second of two spines and twelve or thir- 
teen soft rays. This specimen was sent to them under the 
local name of " Idack bass," or " black perch ;" and not 
suspecting the mutilation of the specimen, they named it 
Huro nigricans — the " l)lack huron." 

In the following year, 1829, Cuvier and Valenciennes 
obtained two specimens, through M. Milbert, of the large- 
mouth bass, from New York, under the name of " growler," 
and four specimens of the small-mouth bass, through Le 
Sueur, from the Wabash Kiver, in Indiana, all of which 
they identified with Lacepede's Lahrus salmoides, and Le 
Sueur's Cichla variabilis, and which they named Grysles 
salmoides. Subsequently Cuvier and Valenciennes an- 
nounced that Lacepede's Micropterus dolomieu was also 
identical with their Grysles salmoides* 



* These specimens I liave also personally examined. The two 
examples sent to the museum at Paris by Milbert, and from one of 







h5 

< 

m 
m 

H 

m 

O 



HlSTOEY OF THE BlACK BaSS. 9 

The complex species, Grystes salmoides, thus created by 
Cuvier, was the origin and beginning of most of the subse- 
quent confusion that attended the nomenclature of the 
black bass species in America, inasmuch as he embraced 
both the large-mouth and small-mouth basses in this name. 

In 1842, Dr. James E. DeKay, in his " Fishes of New 
York," after reproducing Cuvier and Valenciennes', figures 
and descriptions of Huro nigricans and Grystes salmoides, 
described specimens of the small-mouth black bass under 
two additional names: Centrarchiis fasciatus and Cen- 
trarchus obscurus, claiming the latter as a new species. 

In the same year. Dr. Jared P. Kirtland adopted Cen- 
trarchus fasciatus as synonymous with Le Sueur's and 
Rafinesque's numerous descriptions of the small-mouth 
species. 

in 1849, Dr. John E. Holbrook recorded the large-moulh 
bass as Grystes sahnoides (name only) in a catalogue of 
fauna and flora in the '^ Statistics of Georgia." It will be 
noticed that Dr. Holbrook thus considered Grystes sal- 
moides to be the proper name of the large-mouth black bass, 
or " trout," of Georgia. 

In 1850, Prof. Louis Agassiz recognized the generic 
identity of the former descriptions of the black bass by 
Le Sueur, Cuvier and Valenciennes, and DeKay, and re- 
tained the name Grystes for the same. 

In 1854, Prof. Agassiz obtained specimens of the large- 
mouth bass from the Tennessee River, near Huntsville, 

■w^hich the figure in Cuvier and Valenciennes' " Histoire Naturelle 
des Poissons " was taken, are both large-mouth black bass, one 
being fully eight, and the other about six inches in length. The 
four specimens from the Wabash River sent to the museum by 
Le Sueur are all small-mouth bass, the largest being at least 
fifteen inches in length, and the others about one-third as long. 



10 Book of tup: Black Bass. 

Ala., which lie named, provisionally, Grystes nohilis. In 
the same year, Messrs. Baird and Girard described speci- 
mens of the same species from Texas, as Grystes nuccensis. 

In 1855, in his " Ichthyology of South Carolina," Dr. 
Ilolbrook gave an excellent figure and the first full and 
elaborate description of the Carolina " trout," under the 
name of Grystes salmoides Lacepede. 

In 1857, Dr. Theodatus Garlick, one of the fathers of 
fish culture in America, described the small-mouth black 
bass as Grystes nigricans, and the large-mouth species as 
Grystes megastoma. 

In 1858, Dr. Charles Girard described the large-mouth 
bass as Dioplites nuecensis. 

In 1860, Dr. Theo. Gill restored Eafinesque's earliest 
name for the small-mouth form of the black bass, calling 
it Lepomis achigan, which, however, he changed in 1866 
to Micropterus achigan, and still later, in 1873, he adopted 
Lacepede's name, Micropterus salmoides, for the same 
species. 

In 1865, Dr. Edw. D. Cope named the large-mouth bass, 
Micropterus nigricans, which name was also adopted by 
Prof. Gill in 1866. 

In 1871, when, apparently, the oldest generic and specific 
names, Micropterus salmoides for the small-mouth hass, 
and j\Hcropicrus nigricans for the large-mouth bass, had 
been restored, as in Prof. Gill's masterly review* of the 
species in the previous year (when the tangled web had 
been, seemingly, straightened), when dry land was thought 
to have been reached at last ; — then came the French natu- 

* On the species of the genus Micropterus ( Lac. ) or Grystes 
(Auct.). By Theodore Gill, of Washington, D, C. Proceedings of 
llic American Association for the Advancement of Science, xxii, 
1873, pp. B. 55-72. 



History of the Black Bass. 11 

ralists, again. MM. Yaillant and Bocoiirt, of Paris^ in- 
stead of profiting by the experience of their predecessors in 
this matter, tried to show that we had four species of black 
bass, where but two really existed, and this in spite of the 
fact that the Gallic misnomer of the type species still 
existed as a terrible warning to them, of the folly of in- 
dulging their national love of novelty where so grave a 
matter as science was concerned. They proposed the title 
Dioplites variabilis for the small-mouth form, and Dio- 
plites trcculii, Dioplites nuecensis and Dioplites salmoides, 
for the large-mouth form, under several unimportant 
varietal, or individual, differences. 

In 1876, Dr. G. Brown Goode restored Le Sueur's name, 
and called the large-mouth black bass Micro pterus 
-floridanus. 

In 1877, Dr. David S. Jordan restored the still older 
name of Rafinesque for this species, and with the full 
concurrence of Dr. Theo. Gill, designated it Micropterus 
paUidus. 

In 1878, Dr. Jordan divided the small-mouth species 
into two geographical varieties, distinguishing the I^orth- 
ern form as j\[. salmoides var. acliigan, and the Southern 
form as Jf. salmoides var, salmoideSo 

Finally, MM. A^aillant and Bocourt (Miss. Sci. au 
Mexique : ined.) adopted the generic title Micropterus, but 
recognized four provisional species : M. dolomieu and M. 
variabilis for the small-mouth form and M. salmoides and 
M. nuecensis for the large-mouth form, under certain, evi- 
dently, unimportant variations. 

Thus, it will be seen that, from the first, the nomen- 
clature of the black bass species had been involved in great 
doubt, uncertainty, and confusion ; and while much of the 
complexity had been, apparentl3% dissipated, there still 



12 Book of the Black Bass. 

existed among ichthyologists some difference of opinion as 
to the proper differentiation of the species. Even the gen- 
erally accepted nomenclature, prior to 1881, unfortunately 
and unavoidably established, as it was, on an insecure 
basis, was liable at any time to fall to the ground while the 
said differences among the authorities existed. 

Now, if we could have felt perfectly confident and rea- 
sonably sure that the premises adopted by our American 
naturalists were correct, to wit: that Lahrus salmoides 
Lacepede was the first scientific description of the small- 
mouth bass, we could then have left the subject here, with 
the firm conviction that the matter was settled for all time, 
and could thus have felt assured of the ultimate and uni- 
versal adoption and perpetuity of the American nomen- 
clature of the black bass, viz: Micropterus salmoides (La- 
cepede) Gill, for the small-mouth species, and Micropterus 
pallidus (Eafinesque) Gill & Jordan, for the large-mouth 
species. In that event, I say, we could have rested con- 
tent ; for, althougli the generic appellation, and the specific 
title of the small-mouth black bass, as proposed, were mis- 
nomers, they were the only names that could rightly be 
bestowed, under the circumstances, and we could well af- 
ford to submit gracefully to what could not be bettered, or 
helped. 

It will be observed, however, that Dr. Vaillant proposed 
the title Micropterus salmoides for the large-mouth bass; 
and as we called the small-mouth bass by the same name, it 
would have produced endless confusion were that state of 
things to continue. If the black bass of Europe were al- 
ways to be confined to a few preserved specimens and 
plaster casts in the museums, it would not have mattered 
so much ; but as this desirable game-fish had been already 
introduced into European waters, it would seem to be a 



History of the Black Bass. 13 

matter of some interest to obtain a correct, uniform, and 
universal nomenclature of the species. Even as late as 
1880 Dr. Giinther, the great English authority, in his 
^' Introduction to the Study of Fishes/' nailed Grystes and 
Huro to the mast-head as valid genera. 

It will be noticed that Dr. Vaillant adopted the north- 
em and southern varieties of the small-mouth bass as 
provisional species, and likewise separated the large-mouth 
bass into two species, one being distinguished by teeth on 
the tongue, the other by their absence. I have often noticed 
this peculiarity of the presence or absence of lingual teeth 
in the large-mouth species in fish from various waters, 
and am not sure but I have observed it in the small- 
mouth species occasionally, but I have always considered 
it as developed, possibly, by the character of the food in 
certain localities, or merely a phase of individual variation. 

In 1878, Dr. Jordan, while in Europe, gave great at- 
tention to the investigation of the black bass from the Paris 
standpoint. He examined, with the greatest care, Lace- 
pede's original type specimen, and the specimens of Cuvier 
and Valenciennes. He was determined to get to the bottom 
of the matter, if possible, and to this end consulted freely, 
and compared notes, with the French ichthyologists, who 
aided him in every possible way. He afterward published 
the result of his researches, which forms one of the most 
interesting papers pertaining to the literature of the black 
bass.* 

Dr. Jordan submitted the evidence resulting from his 
investigation to Dr. Gill, who, owing to his faith in Cuvier, 

* Notes on Certain Typical Specimens of American Fishes in the 
British Museum and in the Museum D'Histoire Naturelle at Paris. 
By David S. Jordan, M.D. < Proceedings of United States 
National Museum, ii, 1S79, pp. 218-22G. 



14 Book of the Black Bass. 

and to a misleading reprint of Lacepede's Natural History 
of Fishes, concluded that we could still retain our nomen- 
clature of the black bass species, viz : Micropterus salmoides 
for the small-mouth, and Micropterus pallidus for the large- 
mouth, for reasons that it is not necessary to repeat here. 
This view was acquiesced in by Dr. Jordan, though he 
admitted in the paper referred to that " the specific name 
dolomieu was the first ever distinctly applied to our small- 
mouth black bass," and that in the figure of Bosc's Lahrus 
salmoides "the mouth is drawn large, and if we must 
choose, the large-mouth is best represented;" also that in 
the museum at Paris the name salmoides was fully adopted 
for that species. 

I Avas convinced that the estimate of the black bass 
species as entertained by Dr. Vaillant was correct, and that 
dolomieu for the small-mouth, and salmoides for the large- 
mouth black bass, were more in accordance with the evi- 
dence set forth in Dr. Jordan's paper, than our accepted 
nomenclature, based as it was upon the conflicting testi- 
mony of Cuvier and Valenciennes, who embraced every 
thing known of the black bass, in their day, in their Grystes 
salmoides, except Huro nigricans, and had it not been for 
the gap in its dorsal fin, the inference is, they would have 
included that also. I do not make this statement unguard- 
edly, or disrespectfully, for while I venerate the name of 
Cuvier, I am convinced that he failed to discriminate be- 
tween the two species of black bass. 

But let us begin at the beginning. 

Now, if we discard both the description and figure of 
Cuvier and Valenciennes' Grystes salmoides, we have left 
(ignoring for the time both Eafinesque and Le Sueur) 
only Lacepede's Lahrus salmoides and Micropterus 
dolomieu. 



History of the Black Bass. 15 

Let us take Lacepede's figure and description of Labrus 
salmoides, just as they are, on their own merits, without 
any reference to Cuvier's valuation of them ; and to render 
the matter plain, I have reproduced, at the close of this 
chapter, facsimile representations of Lacepede's plates of 
both Labrus salmoides and Micropterus dolomieu, with his 
descriptions, from the original edition of his " Histoire 
Naturelle des Poissons." 

In the first place, as Dr. Jordan truly says of the figure 
of Labrus salmoides: "if we must choose, the large-mouth 
is best represented/^ This is certainly correct, for no one 
could mistake this figure for a small-mouth black bass. 
Then, Lacepede's description says the opening of the mouth 
is very large (" I'ouverture de la bouche fort large ") . The 
radial formula of the dorsal fin is given as nine spinous 
rays and thirteen soft rays ("neuf rayons aiguillones et 
treize rayons articules a la nageoire du dos "). This num- 
ber of dorsal spines will hold good in seventy-five per cent, 
of cases, in the large-mouth bass of the south; sometimes 
there will be found but eight. The rest of the description 
will apply to either species. Then, again, Lacepede, on the 
authority of M. Bosc, says the species is ve^-y abundant in 
the rivers of Carolina, where they are called " trout," and 
are caught with the hook baited with a minnow (" On 
trouve un tres-grande nombre d'indivdus de cette espece 
dans toutes les rivieres de la Caroline; on leur donne le 
nom de traut ou truite. On les prend a Thamecon; on les 
attire par le moyen de morceaux de cyprin''). 

Kow, if we had not been trying to reconcile Labrus 
salmoides with the small-mouth bass, contrary to the evi- 
dence of our own senses, so as to accord with Cuvier's 
creation of the complex Grystes salmoides — becoming 
blind to the points of difference and enlarging upon the 



16 Book of the Black Bass. 

va^eness and inaccuracy of the drawing and its descrip- 
tion — we might have discovered that this figure had, as 
Lacepede says, a " vei-y large mouth f^ and that while the 
large-mouth black bass, or " trout " is " very abundant " 
in Carolina waters, the small-mouth black bass is appa- 
rently unknown, at least in the vicinity of Charleston, 
where Bosc collected. 

As an angler, I have fished for the black bass in all the 
South Atlantic States, from Maryland to Florida; and 
while I have found the large-mouth bass " very abundant " 
in all parts of North Carolina, South Carolina, and 
Georgia, I never took a single small-mouth bass in either 
of these latter states within a hundred miles of the coast. 
I have taken it in the hill-country of each of these states, 
about the head-waters of the rivers flowing into the At- 
lantic, but I doubt very much if it is found anywhere in 
the low^land region of that section of country. 

Dr. Edward D. Cope, who fished the streams of North 
Carolina, in the autumn of 1869, from the Cumberland 
Mountains to the sea, found the large-mouth bass, " abund- 
ant in all the rivers of the state," but failed to find the 
small-mouth bass, except in the Alleghany region of the 
extreme western part of the state; and says that it is 
" apparently not found east of the great water-shed.^* 

If the small-mouth black bass inhabits the Atlantic 
slopes of North Carolina, South Carolina, or Georgia, Dr. 
Holbrook would have known it; for there has been no 
ichthyologist, before or since his time, who understood the 
structure and habits of the " Carolina trout '' so well. The 
best description, and the best figure of the large-mouth bass 
A 

* A Partial Synopsis of the Fresh Water Fishes of North Caro- 
lina. By E. D. Cope, A.M. < Pro. Am. Phil. Soc., p. 450, 1870. 



History of the Black Bass. 17 

(** trout ^') ever published, until recent years, is found in 
his work, " Ichtliyology of South Carolina/' 

In order to show that he clearly understood the relations 
of the black bass species, I will quote as follows : 

" The trout has, however, its representatives both in the North 
and West, with which it is closely allied: as Grystes nigricans 
[Euro nigricans) of Cuvier and Valenciennes, and Grystes fascia- 
tns {Cychla fasciata) of Le Sueur, both of which have been re- 
ferred by Agassiz to the genus Grystes." * 

Dr. Holbrook knew that the southern trout (large-mouth 
black bass) was neither Huro nigricans (with its two dis- 
tinct dorsal fins), nor Ciclila fasciata (the small-mouth 
bass). He called the "trout" Grystes salmoides Lace- 
PEDE, (not Gr. salmoides Cuv. & A^al.), for he knew that 
Lacepede's Labrus salmoides, or Bosc's Perca trutta could 
Ije nothing else but the "Carolina trout" (large-mouth 
black bass) ; and, moreover, he distinctly repudiated Cuvier 
and Valenciennes' complex Grystes salmoides. 

Professor Agassiz clearly recognized the complex char- 
acter of Cuvier's Grystes salmoides, saying he " probably 
mistook specimens of our Grystes fasciatus for the south- 
ern species." f Professor Agassiz regarded Grystes sal- 
moides as the proper name for the southern large-mouth 
black bass (trout), and in comparing with it Grystes fas- 
ciatus, says : 

" The mouth is less opened and the shorter labials do not reach a 
vertical line drawn across the hinder margin of the orbits, whilst 
they exceed such a line in G. salmoides." f 

* Ichthyology of South Carolina. By John Edwards Holbrook, 
M.D. 25, 1855. 

t Agassiz, Lake Superior, p. 295, 1850. 

Q 



18 Book of the Black Bass. 

And yet we deceived ourselves, with all this evidence 
staring us in the face, with the flimsy delusion that Bosc's 
drawing of the " Carolina trout " was a small-mouth bass, 
simply because Cuvier pronounced it synonymous with 
Cichla variabilis Le Sueur and Micropterus dolomieu 
Lacepede. 

Now, if we conclude from this that Lahrus sahnoides is 
the large-mouth black bass,* then the small-mouth black 
bass claims its birthright of Micropterus dolomieu, which 
unquestionably belongs to it. 

This, in short, seemed to be the view of Dr. Yaillant, 
and it seemed to me to Ije the correct one, though he took 
the figure of Grystes sahnoides as additional evidence, the 
said figure being made from a large-mouth black bass, as 
is very evident from a glance at the reproduction of the 
original, which is given in this connection. 

Being tlioroughly convinced that Lahrus salmoides was 
a large-mouth black Ixass, from my own knowledge of the 
Carolina " trout," and from the views of Agassiz, Holbrook 
and Vaillant, I had fully determined to restore Lacepede's 
names, viz : ]\[icropterus salmoides for the large-mouth bass 
and Micropterus dolor)iieu for the small-mouth bass, in the 
first edition of this book. 

There was but one contingency that could have proved 
the right of the small-mouth bass to the name Micropterus 
dolomieu in a stronger, or absolute manner, and it would 
be stronger, because incontrovertible, namely: the priority 
of Lacepede's description of Microptei-us dolomieu to his 
description of Lahrus salmoides, and it was my belief that 
such a contingency really existed, for the following reasons : 

In collating the bibliography of the black bass for the 
first edition of this book, I discovered an apparent dis- 
crepancy, which, if it really existed, had an important and 



History of the Black Bass. 19 

significant bearing on the proper nomenclature of the 
species. I noticed that most American authors, in referring 
to Lacepede's description of Labrus salmoides, gave the 
reference as 

"Lacepede, Hist. Xat. des Poiss. Vol. in, p. 716, 1800?", 
and that of Micropterus dolomieu as 

"Lacepede, Hist. Nat. des Poiss. Vol. iv, p. 325, 1800?"'; 
thus, of course, giving the priority of description to Lahrus 
salmoides, as we then understood and accepted it. 

On the other hand, I noticed that Cuvier and Valen- 
ciennes* gave the reference to Micropterus dolomieu in 
Lacepede's work as 

" Vol. IV, p. 325." 
and that of Labrus salmoides in the same work, as 

"Vol. IV, pp. 716, 717." 

I noticed further that all references to the figure of 
Lacepede's Micropterus dolomieu were given as 

"Vol. IV, pi. 3, fig. 3," 
and that of Lahriis salmoides as 

" Vol. IV, pi. 5, fig. 2." 
I was at once struck with this discrepancy, for if Cuvier 
and Valenciennes' reference of Labrus salmoides Lacepede 
(Vol. IV, p. 716, 717) was correct, it would give the pri- 
ority of description to Micropterus dolomieu Lacepede 
(Vol. IV, p. 325). The numerical sequence of the plates 
also gave it priority. 

While revising this chapter of the first edition of this 
book for the press, I learned from Dr. Jordan that he had 
just received from France, a copy of Lacepede's original 
edition of his great work. I at once wrote to him to ascer- 

* Cuv. & Val. Hist. Xat. des Poiss. Vol. iii, p. 55, 1829, and 
Vol. V, p. v, 1830. 



20 Book of the Black Bass. 

tain which reference to Lahrus salmoides was the correct 
one. His characteristic reply was: 

"In answering your questions I have struck a mare's nest; 
M. dolomicu, Vol. iv, 325, 1802; L. salmoides, Vol. iv, 71G, 1802; 
the latter being in a supplement, which, in some of the reprints, 
is restored to its proper place in the genus Lahrus in Vol. ill. 
From this you will see that dolomicu has priority over salmoides. 
I still believe that salmoides was intended for the large-mouth 
bass, but don't know that I can prove it." 

Thus, after the lapse of four-fifths of a century, the 
small-mouth black bass recovered the name to which it was 
clearly entitled, Ilia^opterus dolomieu; truth and justice 
prevailed; Lacej^ede and his illustrious friend Dolomieu 
Avere vindicated. 

American ichthyologists, it will bo seen, had been mis- 
led by using a reprint, instead of the original edition, of 
Lacepede's work, which fact, together with an ill-placed 
faith in Cuvier, led to the confusion of the nomenclature 
of the black bass species as related in the preceding pages. 

Perhaps it will now be well to refer to some objections 
heretofore raised to the generic title Micropterus, and the 
specific appellations salmoides and dolomieu, on the score 
of irrelevancy. I might say, however, that priority, like 
charity, covers a multitude of sins.* 

* To those anglers who are better posted in the technical terms 
of the great American " game " introduced to the nobility of Eng- 
land by General Schenck, than in the technical terms introduced 
here in reference to the nomenclature of the great American 
" game-fish," I need only say that Micropterus, and the specific 
names dolomicM and salmoides, "hold the age^' over all other 
synonyms that have taken a hand, from time to time, in the " little 
game." Tliis comparison may be more striking than analogical, 
but as Jack Bunsby would say, its force " lies in the application 
of it" 



History of the Black Bass. 21 

Micropteriis (little-fin) is really less objectionable than 
any of the names proposed for the genus, for it has, com- 
paratively, smaller fins than any of the related genera, 
though not in the sense intended by Lacepede. 

Calliurus (beautiful tail) is not at all characteristic of 
the genus, though the young of the small-mouth species, 
in certain localities, has the tail marked as described by 
Rafinesque: "base yellow, middle blackish, tip white." 

Gnjstes (growler) is certainly not applicable in this 
sense. I never met an angler who had heard a black bass 
" growl," yet it was on the supposition that it did so, that 
Cuvier gave it this name. We had better stop here, for 
if we go farther we shall fare worse. We will now refer 
to the objectionable features of the specific names dolomieii 
and salmoides. 

Salmoides (trout-like; literally, salmon-like). Lacepede 
conferred this name simply (and appropriately, so far as he 
was concerned) because the figure was sent to him as the 
" trout," or " trout-perch " of Carolina. If we take its 
game qualities into consideration, there is no fish that is 
so " salmon-like " as the black bass ; none that exhibits so 
nearly the characteristic leap, the pluck, and the endur- 
ance of the " king of the waters." The name is, therefore, 
not altogether inappropriate. 

Dolomieu being a French proper noun, without a Latin 
or genitive form, might be considered objectionable. 
Lacepede used the name, however, in this form, advisedly ; 
not through ignorance, nor by accident, but for the sake of 
euphonv, and to perpetuate the name of his friend in its 
integrity. In order to recognize and respect Lacepede's 
motive, it is best to let the name stand just as he wrote it, 
dolomieu. As Dr. Vaillant adopts this form, and doubt- 
less for the same reason, it is important for the sake of 



22 



Book of the Black Bass. 



uniformity to allow it to stand. There is no lack of prece- 
dents for this form of specific title. I will merely mention 
as an example : Icterus baltimore — the former name of 
the Baltimore oriole. The title baltimore, as here used, is a 
proper noun, and was bestowed in honor of Lord Baltimore, 
whose livery was black and orange, the colors of the oriole 
or hanging-bird. Let the name of the small-mouth bass, 
then, stand as dolmieu — the name of a brave man for a 
brave fish. 






i.' 



(This engraving is a fac-simUe of that in Lacepede's Hist. Nat. 
des Poissons, Vol. iv, pi. 3, fig. 3.) 



Le MlCROPTIlRE DOLOMIEU.* 

Je desire que le nom de ce poisson, qu'aucun naturaliste 
n'a encore decrit, rappelle ma tend re amitie et ma profondo 
estime pour Tillustre Dolomieu, dont la victoire vient de 
briser les fers. En ecrivant mon Discours sur la duree des 
especes, j'ai cxprime la vive douleur que m'inspiroit son 
affreuse captivite, et I'admiration pour sa Constance 



* Micropterus dolomieu. 



History of the Black Bass. 23 

h^roique, que TEurope meloit a ses voeux pour lui. Qu"i] 
m'est doux de ne pas terminer I'immense tableau que to 
tache d'esquisser, sans avoir sente le bonheur de le serrer 
de nouveau dans mes bras ! 

Les micropteres ressemblent beaucoup aux scienes : mais 
la petitesse tres-remarquable de leur seconde nageoire dor- 
sale les en separe; et c'est cette petitesse que designe le 
nom generique que je leur ai donne.* 

La collection du Museum national d'histoire naturelle 
renferme un bel individu de Tespece que nous decrivons 
dans cette article. Cette espece, qui est encore la seule 
inscrite dans le nouveau genre des micropteres^ que nous 
avons cru devoir etablir, a les deux machoires^ le palais et 
la langue, garnis d'un, tres-grand nombre de rangees do 
dents petite, crochues et serrees; la langue est d'ailleurs 
tres-libre dans ses mouvemens; et la machoire inferieure 
plus avancee que celle d'en-haut. La membrane branchiale 
disparoit entierement sous Fopercule, qui presente deux 
pieces, dont la premiere est arrondie dans son contour, et 
la seconde anguleuse. Get opercule est convert de plusieurs 
ecailles; celles de dos sont assez grandes et arrondies. La 
hauteur du corps proprement dit excede de beaucoup celle 
de Torigine de la queue. La ligne laterale se plie d'abord 
vers le bas, et se releve ensuite pour suivre la courbure du 
dos. Les nageoires pectorales et celle de I'anus sont tres- 
arrondies; la premiere du dos ne commence qu'a une assez 
grande distance de la queue. Elle cesse d'etre attachee au 
dos de 1' animal, a I'endroit ou elle parvient au-dessus de 
Tanale ; mais elle ce prolonge en bande pointue et flottante 
jusqu'au-dessus de la seconde nageoire dorsale, qui est tres- 
basse et tres-petite, ainsi que nous venons dele dire, et que 

• Mtxpo^, en grec, signifie petit. 



.24 



Book of tiik Black Bass. 



Ton croiroit au premier coup d'ocil entierement adipeuse.* 
— (LACi^pfeDE, Hist. Nat. des roiss. Vol. iv, 325, 1802.) 

Le LaBRE SALMOIDE.f 

On devra au citoycn Bosc la connoissance du labre sal- 
moide et du labre iris, qui tous les deux habitent dans les 
eaux de la Caroline. 







LAGRC SALMOIDC. 

(This engraving is a fac-siinilc from Lacepede's Hist. Nat. des 
Poissons, Vol. iv, pi. 5, fig. 2.) 

Le salmoi'de a une petite elevation sur le ncz ; I'ouverturc 
de la bouclie fort large ; la machoire inf erieure un peu plus 
longue que la superieure; I'une et Tautre garnies d'une 
grande quantite de dents tres-menues ; la langue charnue; 

* 5 raj^ons ft la membrane brancliiale. 

16 rayons a cliaquc peetorale. 

1 rayon aigiiillonne et 5 rayons articules jV chaque thoracine. 

17 rayons a la nageoiro de la queue. 
— [D. X, 7-4; A. II, 11.1 

t Labrus salmoides. 
Perca trutta. Manuscrits communiques par le citoycn Bosc. 



History of the Black Bass. 25 

le palais herisse de petites dents que Ton voit disposees siir 
deux rangees et sur une plaque triangulaire ; le gosier situe 
au-dessus et au-dessous de deux autres plaque egalement 
herissees ; I'oeil grand ; les cotes de la tete, revetus de petite 
ecailles; la ligne laterale parallele au dos; une fossette 
propre a recevoir la partie anterieure de la dorsale ; les deux 
thoracines reunies par une membrane; Firis jaune, et le 
ventre blanc. 

On trouve un tres-grand nombre d'individus de cette 
espece -dans toutes les rivieres de la Caroline ; on leur donne 
le nom de traut ou truite. On les prend a Thamecon; on 
les attire par le moyen de morceaux de cyprin. lis parvien- 
nent a la longueur de six ou sept decimetres; leur chair 
est ferme, et d'un gout tres-agreable. — [Br. 6 ; D. IX, 13 ; 
A. 13; P. 13; V. 6; C. 18.] — (Lacepede, Hist. Nat des 
Poiss. Vol. IV, 716, 1802.) 



26 Book of the Black Bass. 

CHAPTER II. 

NOMENCLATURE AND MORPHOLOGY. 



Class PISCES. 

Subclass TELEOSTEI. 

Order AOANTHOPTERI. 

SuBOKDER EIIEGNOPTERI. 

Family CENTRAROHIDiE. 

Subfamily MICROPTERIN.'E. 

Genus MICROl'TERUS Lac^pede. 

SYNONYMY AND REFERENCES. 

Micropterus Lacepede, Hist. Nat. des Poiss. iv, 325, 1802. (Type 
M. dolomieu Lac.) 

J.ahrus species, Lacepede, Hist. Nat. des Poiss. iv, 716, 1802. 
(L. salmoides Lac.) (Not of Linna?iis, the type Labrus 
mixtus L. belonging to the family of Labridw, the com- 
mon wrasse-fish of the coasts of Europe.) 

Bodianus species, Rafinesque, Am. Mo. Mag. and Crit. Rev. ii, 
120, 1817. {B. achigan Raf.) (Not of Bloch, the type 
of Bodianus, being a marine fish of the family of 8er- 
ranidcc.) 

Calliurus Rafinesque, Jonr. de Phys. v, 88, 420, June, 1819. and 
Ich. Ohi. 26, 1820. (Not of Agassiz, Girard, ct al.) 
(Type 0. punctulatus Raf.) 

Lcpomis Rafinesque, Ich. Ohi. 30, 1820. (Not Lepomis Raf. 
Jour, de Phys. ii, 50, 1819, the original type Labrus 
auriius L. being a fresh water sunfish.) 



Nomenclature axd Morphology. 2? 

Aplites Rafixesque, Icli. Ohi. 30, 1820. (As subgenus of Le- 

pomis. Type L. pallidus Raf. ) 
Nemocaynpsis Rafinesque, Ich. Ohi. 31, 1820. (As subgenus of 

Lepomis. Type L. flexuolaris Raf.) 
Dioplites Rafinesque, Ich. Ohi. 32, 1820. (As subgenus of Le- 
pomis. Type L, salmonea Raf.) 
Aplesion Rafinesque, Ich. Ohi. 36, 1820, (As subgenus of Etheos- 

toma. Type E. calliura Raf.) 
Cichla species, Le Sueur, Jour. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phil, ii, 216, 1822. 

(C. fasciata Le S.) (Not of Cuvier, the type Cichla 

ocellaris Bloch, being a South American fresh water fish 

of the family of Cichlidce. ) 
Euro CTjvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat, des Poiss. ii, 124, 1828. 

(Type H. nigricans C, & V, ) 
Grystes Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. des Poiss. iii, 54, 

1829. (Type Lahrus salmoides Lac.) 
Euro SwAiNSON, Nat. Hist, and Class. Fishes, etc., ii, 200, 1839. 
Grystes Swainson, Nat. Hist, and Class. Fishes, etc., li, 202, 1839. 
Centrarchus species, Kirtland, Bost, Jour, Nat, Hist, v, 28, 1842. 

(C. fasciatus K.) (Not of Cuvier, the type Lahrus 

ivideus Lac, being a fresh water sunfish.) 
Centrarchus species, DeKay, Fishes N. Y. 28, 1842. (C. fasciatus 

DeK.) 
Grystes Agassiz, Am. Jour. Sci. and Arts. (2), xvii, 297, 1854. 
Dioplites Girard, U. S. Pac. R. R. Surv. x. Fishes, 4, 1858. 
Grystes Gijnther, Cat. Fishes Brit. Mus., i, 252, 1859. 
Euro GiJNTHER, Cat. Fishes Brit. Mus., i, 255, 1859. 
Micropterus Cope, Pro. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phil. 83, 1865. (Name 

only.) 
Micropterus Gill, Ann, Rep. Dept, Agric, 407, 1866. 
Micropterus Gill, Pro, iVm. Asso. Adv. Sci. xxii, B. 55, 1873. 
Dioplites Vaillant & Bocourt Miss. Sci. au Mexique, 1874. 
Euro Bleeker, Syst. Perc. Re vis. < Ext. des Arc. ' Neer. xi, 15, 

1875, 
Micropterus Bleeker, Syst. Perc. Revis. < Ext. des Arc. Neer. 

XI, 15, 1875. 
Micropterus Jordan, Man. Vert. E. .U. S. 229, 1876. 
Micropterus Jordan, Am. N. Y. Lye. Nat, Hist, xi, 313, 1877. 
Micropterus Jordan, Pro. U. S. Nat. Mus. ii, 218, 1880. 



28 Book of the Black Bass. 

Grystes Gunther, Intro. Study of Fishes, 392, 1880. 
Euro GiJNTHER, Intro. Study of Fishes, 393, 1880. 
Micropterus Cope, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., xvii, 32, 1880. 
Micropterus Henshall, Book of the Black Bass, 65, 1881. 
Micropterus Cope, Rep. Pa. Fish Com., 130, 1881. 
Micropterus Jordan & Gilbert, Syn. Fishes N. A., 484, 1882. 
Micropterus Jordan, Geol. Surv. Ohio, iv, 942, 1882. 
Micropterus Vaillant & Bocourt, Miss. Sci. au Mexique, 1883. 
Micropterus Gill, Standard Nat. Hist., ill, 230, 1885. 
Micropterus Jordan, Manuel Vertebrates, 120, 1888. 
Micropterus Jordan & Evermann, Fishes of N. A., 1010, 1896. 
Micropterus Jordan & Evermann, Amer. Food and Game Fishes, 

355, 1902. 
Micropterus Henshall, Bass, Pike, Perch, and Others, 1, 1903. 



Etymology: MixpO'^ (miJcros) , small; Tzrepow (pteron), fin 
Type: Micropterus dolomieu Lacepdde. 

GENERIC CHARACTERIZATIONS. 

Head well developed, its length varying from 3 to 3J times 
in lengtli of body; compressed; rather full between the eyes; 
snout rounded; profile straight; lower jaw prominent and 
projecting. Scales on cheek, opercle, subopercle, and inter- 
opercle, but none, or few, on the preopercle. Eye moderately large, 
nearly median, but rather nearer the snout than the preopercle. 
Nostrils round and normal. 

Mouth large, with the cleft oblique; the posterior extremity of 
the upper jaw extends nearly to, or beyond, the posterior border 
of the eye. Lips but slightly developed. Preopercle smooth and 
rounding at its angle. Opercle nearly triangular, emarginate be- 
hind, ending in two flat points. Subopercle extends beyond the 
opercle, ending in a membranous point. Interopercle rounded be- 
low. Gill openings large. Branchiostegals six on each side. 

Both jaws are armed with villiform teeth, curving backward. 
Patches of villiform teeth on vomer, palatine and pharyngeal 
bones. Gill-rakers long and slender, and armed with teeth. 



Nomenclature and Morphology. 29 

Tongue moderate and free; thick behind, narrow in front; its 
surface usually smooth. 

Bod}^ elongate, ovate-fusiform, somewhat compressed; deepest 
just behind the ventrals. Scales moderate ; smaller on breast and 
nape. Lateral line following curve of the back. 

Dorsal fin with nine or ten spines; a deep notch between the 
spinous and soft portions. Anal fin with three spines. Caudal 
fin emarginate. 

Pyloric coeca fourteen or more. Air-bladder simple, slightly 
notched behind. 

CONTRASTED DIFFERENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS.* 

Small-Mouth, Large-Mouth. 

Scales of trunk 

Small (e. g. lat. line, 72-75; ^Moderate (e. g. lat. line, 65- 

between lateral line, and back, 70 ; between lateral line and 
11 rows), back, IV2 or 8 rows). 

Scales on nape and breast 
Much smaller than those of Scarcely (on nape), or not 

sides. much (on breast) smaller than 

those of sides. 

Scales of cheeks 

Minute (e. g., between orbit Moderately small (e, g., be- 

and preoperculum, about 17 tween orbit and preoperculum, 

rows in an oblique line and about 10 rows in an oblique line 

about 9 in a horizontal one), and about 5-G in a horizontal 



Scales of interoperculum uniserial 

Covering only about half the Covering the entire width of 

width of the bone. the bone. 

* On the species of the genus Micropterus (Lac.) or Grystes 
(Auct.). By Theodore Gill. Pro. Amer. Assn. Adv. Science. 
XXII, 1873. 



30 Book of the Black Bass. 

Small-Mouth. Large-Mouth. 

Scales of preopercular limb 
None. Developed in an imperfect row 

( e. g., 3-0 in number ) . 

Scales on dorsal 

Developed as a deep sheath Developed as a low (obsolete) 

(involving last spine) of small shallow sheath, and with series 

scales differentiated from those ascending comparatively little 

on the back, and with series ad- on membrane behind the rays 

vancing high up the membrane (none behind the last five or 

behind each ray (except last two six). 
or three ) . 

Scales on anal 

Ascending high behind each None (or very few), 

ray. 

Mouth 
Moderate. Large. 

Supramaxillary 

Ending considerably in front Extending considerably be- 

of hinder margin of orbit (about hind the posterior margin of 
under hinder border of pupil ) . orbit. 

Rays 

Dorsal articulated, 13. Dorsal, articulated, 12 (I. 11). 

Anal III, 10-11. Anal III, 10^ 

Pectoral, 1-lG-l- 17. Pectoral, 1 -14 ( 1 -13) . 

Dorsal fin in front of soft portion 
Little depressed, the ninth Much depressed, the ninth 

spine being only about a half spine being only about a fourth 
shorter than the longest (3, 4, 5) as long as the longest and half 
and a fourth shorter than the as long as the tenth, 
tenth. 



Nomenclature and Morphology. 31 

SYNOPSIS OF SPECIES OF MICROPTERUS. 

Common characters. — Body elongated, ovate-fusiform ; slightly 
compressed; arched and thick along the back, thinner 
and straight along the belly; lower jaw longest; both 
jaws armed with broad bands of villiform teeth of uni- 
form size; villiform teeth also on vomer, palatine and 
pharyngeal bones; teeth on gill-rakers; spinous and soft 
portions of dorsal fin partly divided by a notch; anal fin 
with three spines; caudal fin emarginate; opercule 
emarginate behind, ending in two flat points; supple- 
mental maxillary bone well developed. 

* Mouth large ; angle of mouth anterior to the posterior border of 
the eye. 

t Third dorsal spine only one-half higher than the first. 

a. Notch between spinous and soft rays of dorsal comparatively 
shallow. 

6. Scales small on body, much smaller on breast and back of neck, 
and quite small on cheeks, in 17 rows; 11 rows of scales 
between lateral line and dorsal fin; 70 to 80 scales along 
the lateral line (exclusive of small pre-caudal scales). 

c. No scales on preopercular limb. 

d. Anal fin almost without scales. ( ? ) 

e. Head moderate in size; slightly convex between the orbits. 

/. Color, slaty or dusky green on back and sides, shading to white 
on belly and lower jaw; young brighter green, and more 
or less spotted and marked with vertical bars; tail in 
young (in some localities), yellow at base, middle black, 
tip white ; opercle with three oblique olivaceous streaks ; 
D. X, 13; A. Ill, 11 DOLOMiEU. 

** Mouth very lar^; angle of mouth extends beyond the posterior 
border JPthe eye. 

tt Third dorsal spine twice (at least) as high as the first. 

aa. Dorsal notch deep, almost dividing the fin into two. 

66. Scales moderate; not much smaller on cheeks, nape or breast: 
scales on cheeks in 10 rows; 8 rows of scales between 
lateral line and dorsal fin; 65 to 70 scales along lateral 
line (exclusive of small pre-caudal scales). 

ce. A single row of scales on preopercular limb^ 

dd. Anal fin somewhat scaly. ( ? ) 

ee. Head large; flat between the orbits. 



32 



Book of the Black Bass. 



ff. Color, olive green, darker on back and shading to white on 
belly and under side of lower jaw; more or less spotted 
when young; not barred, though usually an irregular 
dark lateral band; three oblique streaks on cheeks; these 
markings grow obscure with age; D. X, 12; A. Ill, 

10 SALMOIDES. 



CHRONOLOGICAL CATALOGUE 

Of the 'Nominal Species of Micropterus as noticed hy various 
Authors, loith Identifications. 



NOMINAL SPECIES. 



Micropterus dolomieu Lac6p6de 

Labrus salmoides Lac6pt^de 

Bodianus achigan Rafinesque 

Calliurus punctulatus Rafinesque 

Lepomis pallida Rafinesque 

Lepomis trifasciata Rafinesque 

Lepomis flexuolaris Rafinesque 

Lepomis salmonea Rafinesque 

Lepomis notata Rafinesque 

Etheostoma calliura Rafinesqiie 

Cichla variabilis Le Sueur, MSS 

Ciehla fasciata Le Sueur 

Cichla ohiensis Le Sueur 

Ciehla minima Le Sueur 

Cichla floridana Le Sueur 

Huro nigricans Cuvier & Valenciennes 

Grystes salmoides Cuvier & Valenciennes 

Centrarchus obscurus DeKay 

Centrarchus fasciatus Kirtland 

Grystes nigricans Agassiz 

Grystes fasciatus Agassiz 

Grystes nobilis Agassiz 

Grystes nuecensis Baird & Girard 

Grystes salmoides Holbrook 

Grystes megastoma Garlick 

Grystes nigricans Garlick 

Dioplites nuecensis Girard 

Grystes salmonoides Giinther , 

Grystes nigricans Herbert , 

Lepomis achigan Gill 

Micropterus nigricans Cope 

Micropterus fasciatus Cope 

Micropterus achigan Gill 

Micropterus salmoides Gill 

Dioplites treculii Vaillant & Bocourt 

Dioplites nuecensis Vaillant & Bocourt 

Dioplites variabilis Vaillant & Bocourt 

Dioplites salmoides Vaillant & Bocourt 

Micropterus floridanus Goode 

Micropterus pallidus Gill & Jordan 

Micropterus salmoides var. salmoides Jordan 
Micropterus salmoides var. achigan Jordan. . . 

Micropterus salmoides Vaillant & Bocourt 

Micropterus nuecensis Vaillant & Bocourt 

Micropterus variabilis Vaillant & Bocourt 

Micropterus dolomieu Vaillant & Bocourt 



1802 
1802 
1817 
1819 
1820 
1820 
1820 
1820 
1820 
1820 
1822 
1822 
1822 
1822 
1822 
1828 
1829 
1842 
1842 
1850 
18,50 
1854 
1854 
1855 
1857 
1857 
1858 
1859 
1859 
18o0 
18G5 
1865 
1866 
1873 
1874 
1874 
1874 
1874 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1878 
1883 
1883 
1883 



Identifications. 



Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
M. dolo. var. 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
M. dolomieu 
M. dolo. var. 
Micropterus 
Micropterus 
M. dolo. imr. 
M. dolomieu 



dolomieu. 

salmoides. 

dolomieu. 

dolomieu. 

sahnoides. 

dolomieu. 

dolomieu. 

dolomieu. 

dolomieu. 

dolomieu. 

dolomieu. 

dolomieu. 

dolomieu. 

dolomieu. 

salmoides. 

salmoides. 

dolomieu? 

dolomieu. 

dolomieu. 

salmoides. 

dolomieu. 

salmoides. 

salmoides. 

.salmoides. 

salmoides. 

dolomieu. 

salmoides. 

dolomieu. 

salmoides. 

dolomieu. 

salmoides. 

dolomieu. 

dolomieu. 

dolomieu. 

salingides. 

salmoides. 

achigan. 

salmoides. 

salmoides. 

salmoides. 

var. dolo. 

achigan. 

salmoides. 

salmoides. 

achigan. 

var. dolo. 



NOMEXCLATURE AXD MORPHOLOGY. 35 

MICROPTERUS DOLOMIEU Lacepede. 
THE SMALL-MOUTH BLACK BASS. 

SY.N'ONYMY AND REFERENCES. 
1802. 

Micropterus dolomieu Lacepede, Hist. Nat. des Poiss., iv, 325, 

1802. 
Micropterus dolomieu Hexshall, Book of the Black Bass, 84. 1881, 
Micropterus dolomieu McKay, Pro. U. S. Nat. Mus., iv, 93, 1881. 
Micropterus dolomieu Jordan & Gilbert, Syn. Fishes N. A., 

485, 1882. 
Micropterus dolomieu Jordan, Geol. Surv. Ohio, iv, 948, 1882. 
Micropterus dolomieu Vaillant & Bocourt, Miss. Sci. au Mex,, 

Zool., 1883. 
Micropterus dolomiei Bean, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., xxvii, 464, 

502, 1883. 
Micropterus dolomiei Jordan & Swain, Pro. JJ. S. Nat. Mus., 

VI, 249, 1883. 
Micropterus dolomAei Bean, Pro. U. S. Nat. Mus., vi, 365, 1883. 
Micropterus dolomiei Goode, Fish. Industries U. S., sec. i, 401, 

1884. 
Micropterus dolomiei Forbes, Kept. Ills. Fish Com., 67, 1884. 
Micropterus dolomieu Gill, Standard Nat. Hist., iii, 231, 1885. 
Micropterus dolomiei Jordan, Cat. Fishes N. A., 17. 1885. 
Micropterus dolomiei Von dem Borne, Die Fischzucht, 148, 1885. 
Micropterus dolomiei Jordan & Meek, Pro. U. S. Nat. Mus., 

VIII, 7, 1885. 

Micropterus dolomiei Eigenmann & Fordice, Pro. Ac. Nat. Sci. 

Phil., 411, 1885. 
Micropterus dolomiei Jordan & Gilbert, Pro. U. S. Nat. Mus., 

IX, 5, 12, 1886. 

Micropterus dolomieu Mather, Colvin Adirond. Surv., Fishes, 5, 

1886. 
Micropterus dolomiei Evermann, Bull. Brook. Soc. Nat. Hist, ii, 

7, 1886. 
Micropterus dolomiei Evermann & Bollman, Ann. N. Y. Lye. 

Nat. Hist., 339, 1886. 
Micropterus dolomieu Jordan & Evermann, Ind. Agric. Kept., 

13, 1886. 



36 Book of the Black Bass. 

Micropterus dolomieu Von dem Borne, Scliwarzbarsch, etc., 3, 

1886. 
Micropterus dolomiei Goode, American Fishes, 54, 1888. 
Micropterus dolomieu Jordan, Manual Vertebrates, 120, 1888. 
Micropterus dolomieu Jordan & Evermann, Fishes of N. A., 

1011, 1896. 
Micropterus dolomieu Jordan & Evermann, Am. Food and Game 

Fishes, 355, 1902. 
Micropterus dolomieu Henshall, Bass, Pike, Perch and Others, 

3, 1903. 

1817. 
Bodianus achigan Eafinesqfe, Am, Mo. Mag. and Grit. Rev. Ii, 

120, 1817. 
Lepomis achigan Gill, Pro. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phil. 20, 1800. 
Micropterus achigan Gill, Kept. Com. Agri. 407, 1800, 
Micropterus achigan Goode & Bean, Bull. Essex Inst, xi, 19, 

1879.* 

1820, 
Calliurus punctulatus Rafinesque, Ich. Ohiensis, 20, 1820. 
Lepomis trifasciata Rafinesque, Ich, Ohiensis, 31, 1820. 
Lepomis flexuohrris Rafinesque, Ich. Ohiensis, 31, 1820, 
Lepomis salmonea Rafinesque, Ich. Ohiensis, 32, 1820. 
Lepomis notata Rafinesque, Ich. Ohiensis, 32, 1820. 
Etheostoma calliura Rafinesque, Ich. Ohiensis, 36, 1820. 

1822. 

Cichla variahilis Le Sueur, MSS., in Museum d'Hist. Nat. Paris, 
1822, 

Dioplites variahilis Vaillant & Bocourt, MSS, Miss, Sci. au 
Mexique, 1874. 

Micropterus variahilis Vaillant & Bocourt, Miss. Sci. au Mexi- 
que: ined. 

*Used on the wrong supposition that the name ''Lahre salmo'ide " 
as used by Lacepede was vernacular (French), unaccompanied by 
a classical form, and therefore not available. 



NCMENCLATURE AXD MORPHOLOGY. 37 

1822. 
Cichla fasciata Le Sueur, Jour. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phil, ii, 216, 1822. 
Cichla fasciata Kirtland, Zoology Ohio (2d An. Rep. Geol. Siirv. 

Ohio), 191, 1838. 
Centrarchus fasciatus Kirtland, Bost. Jour. Nat. Hist, v, 28, 1842. 
CentrarcTius fasciatus DeKay, Fishes N. Y. 28, 1842. 
Centrarchus fasciatus Storer, Sjti. Fishes N. A. 38, 1846. 
Grystes fasciatus Agassiz, Lake Superior, 295, 1850. 
Centrarchus fasciatus Thompson, Hist. Vt, 131, 1853. 
Grystes fasciatus Eoff, Smithsonian Report, 289, 1854. 
Grystes fasciatus Gill, Smithsonian Report, 257, 1856. 
Centrarchus fasciatus GtJNTHER, Cat. Fishes Brit. Mus. i, 258, 1859. 
Grystes fasciatus Gunther, Cat. Fishes Brit. Mus. i, 252, 1859. 

(Name only.) 
Centrarchus fasciatus Roosevelt, Game Fish of North, 217, 1862. 
Micropterus fasciatus Cope, Pro. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phil. 83, 1865. 

(Name only.) 
Grystes fasciatus Putnam, Storer's Fish Mass. 278, 1867. 
Micropterus fasciatus Cope, Jour. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phil, vi, 216, 1868. 
Micropterus fasciatus Cope, Pro. Am. Phil. Soc. 450, 1870. 

1822. 

Cichla ohiensis Le Sueur, Jour. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phil, ii, 218, 1822. 
Cichla ohiensis Kirtland, Rept. Zool. Ohio: 2d Geol. Rept. Ohio, 

191, 1838. 

1822. 
Cichla minima Le Sueur, Jour. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phil, ii, 220, 1822. 
Cichla minima Kirtland, Rept. Zool. Ohio: 2d Geol. Rept. Ohio, 

191, 1838. 

1829. 
f Grystes salmoides Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. des Poiss. 

Ill, 54, 1829. 
Grystes salmoides Jardine, Nat. Lib. 1, Perches, 158, 1835. 
Grystes salmoides DeKay, Fishes N. Y. 26, 1842. 
Grystes salmoides Storer, Synopsis Fishes N. A. 36, 1846. 
Gristes salmoeides Herbert, Fish and Fishing, 197, 1859. 
Grystes salmonoides Gijnther, Cat. Fishes Brit. Mus. i, 252, 1859. 
Micropterus salmoides Gill, Pro. Am. Asso. Adv. Sci. B 55, 1873. 



38 Book of the Black Basi^. 

Micropterus salmoides Jordan, Ind. Geol. Surv. 214, 1874. 
Micropterus salmoides Jordan, Man. Vert. E. U. S. 230, 1876. 
Micropterus salmoides Uhler & Lugger, Fishes of Md. in, 1876. 
Micropterus salmoides Nelson, Bull. Ills. State Lab. Hist., i, 37, 

1876. 
Micropterus salmoides Jordan, Ann. N. Y. Lye. Nat. Hist, xi, 

314, 1877. 
Micropterus salmoides Jordan, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. ix, and x, 

1877. 
Micropterus salmoides Hallock, Sportsman's Gazetteer, 373, 

1877. (In part.) 
Micropterus salmoides Jordan, Man. Vert. E. U. S. 2d ed., 236, 

1878. 
Micropterus salmoides Jordan, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. xii, 30, 

1878. 
Micropterus salmoides Henshall, Kept. Ohio Fish Com. 31, 1879. 
Micropterus salmoides Goode, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 49, 1879. 
Micropterus salmoides Jordan, Pro. U. S. Nat. Mus. ii, 218, 1880. 
Micropterus salmoides Goode, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., x, 28, 1880. 
Micropterus salmoides Bean, Pro. U. S. Nat. Mus., in, 1880. 
Micropterus salmoides Cope, Kept. Pa. Fish Com., 1881. 

1842. 
Ccntrarchus ohscurus DeKay, Fishes New York, 30, 1842. 
Centrarchus ohscurus Storer, Syn. Fishes N. A, 40, 1846. 
Centrarchus ohscurus Gunther, Cat. Fishes Brit. Mus. i, 258, 
1859. 

1857. 
Grystes nigricans Garlick, Treat. Art. Prop. Fish, 105, 1857. 
Grystes nigricans Norris, Am. Anglers' Book, 103, 1864. 



Etymology: Dolomieu, proper name (in honor of M. Dolomieu). 
Habitat: Canada to Alabama; along the Appalachian Chain and 
westward; introduced eastward. 



Nomenclature axd Morphology. 41 

MICROPTERUS SALMOIDES (Lac.) Henshall. 

THE LARGE-MOUTH BLACK BASS. 

SYNONYMY AND REFERENCES. 
1802. 

Lnhrus salmoides Lacepede, Hist. Nat. des Poiss. iv, 716, 1802. 
Grystes salmoides Holbrook, Cat. Fauna and Flora. Statistics 

of Ga., IG, 1849. 
Grystes salmoides Agassiz, Lake Superior, 295, 1850. 
Grysies salmoides Holbrook, Icli. So. Car. 25, 1855,. and 2d ed. 

28, 1860. 
Grystes salmoides Norris, Am. Anglers' Book, 99, 1804. (In part.) 
Dioplites salmoides Vaillant & Bocourt, Miss. Sci, au Mexique, 

1874. 
Microplerus salmoides Henshall, Book of the Black Bass, 110, 

1881. 
Micropterus salmoides, McKay, Pro. U. S. Nat. Mus., iv, 93, 1881. 
Microptcnis salmoides Goode & Bean, Pro. U. S. Nat. Mus., v, 

238, 1882. 
Micropterus salmoides Jordan & Gilbert, Syn. Fishes N. A., 

484, 1882. 
Micropterus salmoides Jordan, Geol. Surv. Ohio, iv, 952, 1882. 
Micropterus salmoides Hay, Bull. U. S. Fish Com., ii, 64, 1882. 
Micropterus salmoides Bean, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., xxvii, 446, 

502, 1883. 
Micropterus salmoides Vaillant & Bocourt, Miss. Sci. au Mex- 
ique, 1883. 
Micropterus salmoides Goode, Fish. Industries U. S. sec. i, 401, 

1884. 
Micropterus salmoides Gilbert, Pro. U. S. Nat. Mus. vii, 204, 

209, 1884. 
Micropterus salmoides Jordan, Pro. U. S. Nat. Mus., vii, 320, 1884. 
Micropterus salmoides Forbes, Rept. Ills. Fish Com., 67, 1884. 
Micropterus salmoides Gill, Standard Nat. Hist., iii, 231, 1885. 
Micropterus salmoides Jordan, Cat. Fishes N. A., 17, 1885. 
Micropterus salmoides Jordan & Meek, Pro. U. S. Nat. Mus., 

Yiii, 14, 16, 17, 1885. 
Micropterus salmoides Goode & Bean, Pro. U. S. Nat. Mus., 

VIII, 208, 1885. 



42 Book ojf the Black Bass. 

Micropterus salmonoides Von dem Borne, Fischzucht, 148, 1885. 
Micropterus sahnoides Jordan & Gilbert, Pro. U. S. Nat. Mus., 

IX, 21, 1886. 

Micropterus sahnoides Bollman, Pro. U. S. Nat. Mus., ix, 464, 

1886. 
Micropterus sahnoides Evermann, Bull. Brook. Soc. Nat. Hist., 

II, 7, 1886. 
Micropterus salmoidcs Jordan & Evermann, Ind. Agric. Rept., 

13, 1886. 
Micropterus salmoidcs Jenkins, Hoosier Naturalist, 95, 1886. 
Micropterus sahnoides Von dem Borne, Schwarzbarsch, etc., 3, 

1886. 
Micropterus sahnoides Goode, American Fishes, 54, 1888. 
Micropterus sahnoides Jordan, Manual Vertebrates, 120, 1888. 
Micropterus sahnoides Jordan & Evermann, Fishes of N. A., 

1012, 1896. 
Micropterus sahnoides Jordan & Evermann, Am. Food and Game 

Fishes, 357, 1902. 
Micropterus salmoidcs Hensiiall, Bass, Pike, Perch and Others, 

30, 1903. 

1820. 

Lepomis pallida Rafinesque, Ich. Ohiensis, 30, 1820. 
Micropterus pallidus Jordan, Ann. N. Y. Lye. Nat. Hist, xi, 314, 

1877. 
Micropterus pallidus Jordan, Bull U. S. Nat. ISIus. ix, 21, and 

X, 43, 1877. 

Micropterus 2)allidus Jordan, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. xii, 15, 1878. 
Micropterus pallidus Jordan, Hayd. Geol. Surv. Ter. Bull, iv, 

No. 2, 435, 1878. 
Micropterus pallidus Jordan, Man. Vert. E. U. S. 2d ed., 236, 

1878. 
Micropterus pallidus Goode, Pro. U. S. Nat. Mus. ii, 115, 1879. 
Micropterus pallidus Goode & Bean, Bull. Essex. Inst, xi, 19, 

1879. 
Micropterus pallidus Goode & Bean, Pro. U. S. Nat. Mus. ii, 138, 

1879. 
Micropterus pallidus Henshall, Rept. Fish Com. Ohio, 31, 1879. 
Micropterus pallidus Goode, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., xiv, 49, 1879. 



NOMEXCLATURE AXD MORPHOLOGY. 43 

Micropterus pallidus Jordan, Pro. U. S. Nat. Mus. iii, 19, 1880. 
Microptcrus pallidus Goode, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., xviii, 28, 1880. 
Micropterus pallidus Bean, Pro. U. S. Nat. Mus., iii, 96, 1880. 
Micropterus pallidus Hay, Pro. U. S. Nat. Mus. iii, 497, 1880. 
Micropterus pallidus Cope, Kept. Pa. Fish Com., 131, 1881. 

1822. 
Cichla floridana Le Sueur, Jour. Act. Nat. Sci. Phil, ii, 219, 1822. 
Micropterus floridanus Goode, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. vi, 63, 1876. 

(Name only.) 
Micropterus floridanus Cope, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., xvii, 31, 1880. 

1828. 
Huro nigricans Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. des Poiss. ii, 

124, 1828. 
Huro nigricans Jardine, Nat. Lib. i. Perches, 108, 1835. 
Euro nigricans Richardson, Fau. Bor. Am. iii, 4, 1836. 
Uuro nigricans DeKay, Fishes N. Y. 15, 1842. 
Euro nigricans Storer, Sjti. Fishes N. A. 25, 1846. 
Grystes nigricans Agassiz, Lake Superior, 297, 1850. 
Grystes nigricans Herbert, Fish and Fishing, 195, 1859. 
Huro nigricans Gunther, Cat. Fishes Brit. Mus. i, 255, 1859. 
Huro nigricans Roosevelt, Game Fish of the North, 219, 1862. 
Micropterus nigricans Cope, Pro. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phil. 83, 1865. 

(Name only.) 
Micropterus nigricans Gill, Rept. Com. Agric. 407, 1866, 
Micropterus nigricans Cope, Pro. Am. Phil. Soc. 451, 1870. 
Micropterus nigricans Gill, Pro. Am. Asso. Adv. Sci. B. 70, 1873. 
Micropterus nigricans Jordan, Ind. Geol, Surv. 214, 1874. 
Micropterus nigricans Jordan, Man. Vert. E. U. S. 229, 1876. 
Micropterus nigricans Nelson, Bull. Ills. State Lab. Nat. Hist., 

I, 36, 1876. 
Micropterus nigricans Hallock, Sportsman's Gazetteer, 273, 1877. 

(In part.) 

1854. 
Grystes nohilis Agassiz, Am. Jour. Sci. Art, xvii, 298, 1854. 
Grystes nohilis Putnam, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. i, 6, 1863. 

(Name only.) 



44 Book of the Black Bass. 

1854. 
Grystes nuecensis Baird & Girard^ Pro. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phil, vii, 

25, 1854. 
DiopUtes nuecensis Girard, U. S. Pac. R. R. Surv. x, Fishes, 4, 

1858. 
Grystes nuecensis Gunther, Cat. Fishes Brit. Mus. i, 252, 1859. 

(Name only.) 
DiopUtes nuecensis Girard, U. S. Mex. Bound. Surv. ii, 3, 1859. 
DiopUtes nuecensis Vaillant & Bocourt, Miss. Sci. au Mexique, 

1874. 
Micropterus miccensis Vaillant & Bocourt, Miss. Sci. au Mex- 

iv-jue, 1883. 

1857. 
Grystes megastoma Garlick, Treat. Art. Prop. Fish, 108, 1857. 

1874. 
DiopUtes trccuUi Vaillant & Bocourt, Miss. Sci. au Mex- 
ique, 1874. (Zoologie, pt. iv, plate iv, f. 2. No descrip- 
tion; the species since identified by its authors with 
M. nuecensis.) 



Etymology: Sahnoidcs, trout-like; salmon-like. 
Habitat: Red River of the North to Florida: Virginia to Mexico: 
introduced eastward. 



Distinctive Features. 45 

CHAPTER III. 

GENERAL AND SPECIFIC FEATURES. 
" Like — but oh ! how different ! " — Wordsworth. 

As has been shown in the preceding chapter, the genus 
Micropterus includes but two species, viz: Micropterus 
dolomieu Lacepede, the small-mouth black bass, and Mi- 
cropteriis sahnoides (Lacepede) Henshall, the large-mouth 
black bass, or, as it is sometimes erroneously called, the 
Oswego bass. The small-mouth bass exhibits some minor 
points of difference between its northern and southern 
forms, which, however, are not of much moment, as they 
shade into each other, and are to be regarded as merely 
geographical variations. 

Dr. Edward D. Cope took several large-mouth bass, in 
Texas,* which, while agreeing in all other features with 
the same si:>ecies of the northern states and of Florida, 
differed somewhat in the smaller size of the scales of the 
cheeks, and in the scaling of the gill-covers. They also 
differed slightly in coloration and markings by showing 
several dusky, longitudinal streaks, especially noticeable 
below the lateral line. I observed these several variations, 
though not quite so pronounced, in several large-mouth 
bass taken in the St. Francis River, Arkansas, in the au- 
tumn of 1885. 

Possibly no genus of fishes has been the occasion of so 
much confusion, scientifically and popularl}^, as the black 

* On the Zoological Position of Texas. By E. D. Cope. > Bull. 
U. S. Nat. Mus., xvii, 1880, 31. 



46 Book of the Black Bass. 

bass. This is owing, no doubt, to its extensive habitat and 
wide-spread distribution, the original habitat of one or 
other of the species being the great basin of the St. Law- 
rence, the whole Mississippi Valley — or nearly the entire 
range of country lying between the Appalachian Chain 
and the Eocky Mountains — and the South Atlantic States 
from Virginia to Florida, including also the widely-sepa- 
rated sections of the Bed River of the North and East 
Mexico. 

It would naturally be expected, in view of this extraor- 
dinary and expansive habitat, to find differences in color, 
habits and conformation; indeed, it is surprising that the 
variations are not more marked, and the numljer of species, 
consequently, greater, when one considers the great natural 
differences and conditions of the numerous waters, and tlio 
varieties of climate to which this genus is native. To the 
careless observer, however, there is but little to determine 
the differences between the two species of black bass. I 
have known anglers who never suspected that there was 
any difference except in color, until I pointed out to them 
the specific characteristics. Even those of more attentive 
observation, but who luive never seen the two species to- 
gether, find it difficult to readily comprehend the differ- 
ence. To the trained oljserver, however, it is an easy task 
to distinguish the variations; and when specimens of equal 
weight, of both species, are placed side by side, the differ- 
ence is at once apparent. 

As widely distributed as the black bass is, we find that 
the most striking variation, in either species, is in color, 
which will run from almost black through all the shades 
of slate, green, bronze, olive and yellow to almost white; 
and indeed these variations in color can be found in almost 
any one state, and to a great extent in any one stream, or 



Distinctive Features. 47 

lake, at different seasons of the year. In most sections of 
the country the small-mouth species is more or less spotted 
or barred, while the other s|)ecies may exhibit well-defined 
lateral bands of dark spots, though these peculiarities are 
more pronounced in young or adolescent specimens. 

The fins will also be found to vary somewhat in coloring, 
while the scales and fin-rays may differ slightly in number, 
as a variation of one-sixth, more or less, from established 
formulas is not unusual. Slight dissimilarities of contour, 
and some diversities of habits, also, exist. But all of these 
differences obtain, not only with regard to the black bass, 
but to most other species of fresh-water fishes, and depend 
on well-known natural causes. 

I resided for ten years in Wisconsin, where there were 
twentv lakes, abounding^ in black bass, within a radius of 
eight miles of my residence; and from close and constant 
observation of the characteristics of the bass inhabiting 
them, I could almost invariably tell, upon being shown a 
string of black bass, in what particular lake they had been 
caught. 

"Wliere both species co-exist in the same waters, the small - 
mouth bass is generally of a darker or more somber hue 
than the large-mouth bass, whose color is more inclined to 
shades of green. The coloration of the small-mouth bass, 
however, in some localities, approaches shades of olive or 
j^ellow, and there will often be more or less red in the iris 
of the eye, in some instances shading down to orange or yel- 
low; this latter distinction, though, like the double curve 
at the base of the caudal fin, and the more forked tail — 
which have been regarded by some anglers as distinguish- 
ing characteristics of this species — can not be depended 
on, as one or all of these distinctions may be lacking. 

The most distinctive feature, as between the two species, 



48 Book of the Black Bass. 

is the gape of the mouth, which in the large-mouth bass 
seems simply enormous to those who have previously seen 
but the small-mouth species. The contrast in build, and 
external conformation, of the two species, is at once strik- 
ing and characteristic. The large-mouth bass is thicker, 
especially through the shoulders, deeper in the body, and 
seems a heavier fish for its length than the other species, 
conveying the impression that it is the stronger and more 
powerful fish, as, indeed, it is ; while the small-mouth bass, 
owing to its trim, slender and more graceful shape, truly 
convinces one that it is the more active and agile. 

The relative size of the scales is all important in the dif- 
ferentiation of the two species. In the large-mouth bass 
these are much larger, there being but from sixty-five to 
seventy scales along the lateral line, running from the heaJ 
to the tail ; while in the small-mouth species there are from 
seventy to eighty. Between the lateral line and the base 
of the dorsal fin tliere are but eight horizontal rows of scales 
in the large-mouth bass, while there are eleven similar rows 
in the small-mouth bass. The scales on the nape and 
breast in the large-mouth species are not much smaller than 
those of the sides; but in the other species they are much 
smaller ; and while the scales on the cheeks and gill-covers 
of the large-mouth bass are small, those of corresponding 
situations in the small-mouth bass are quite minute, with a 
small portion of the gill-covers (preopercular limb) en- 
tirely bare. 

The size and shape of the fins also differ somewhat, espe- 
cially the dorsal, which in the small-mouth bass has the 
rays of the spinous portion higher and more uniform in 
size, rendering this fin higher, not so arching, and with a 
shallower notch than in the large-mouth form. 

The differences, then, in the form, gape of mouth, and 



Distinctive Features. 49 

size of scales and fins of the two species of black bass, with- 
out reference to color, are sufficiently pronounced to enable 
the angler to readily distinguish, by comparison, the small- 
mouth from the large-mouth ; for these differences are con- 
stant wherever the black bass exists, from Maine to Mexico, 
or from Canada to Florida. To the specialist there are 
other points of differentiation as detailed in the preceding 
chapter. 

The late Fred ^Mather has humorously expressed these 
differences in the following characteristic lines : 

" The little-mouth has little scales, 
There's red in his handsome eye; 
The scales extend on his vertical fins, 
And his forehead is round and high. 

His forehead is full and high, my boys, 

And he sleeps the winter through ; 
He likes the rocks in summer time, 

Micropterus dolomieu. 

The big-mouth has the biggest scales, 

And a pit scooped in his head; 
His mouth is cut beyond his eye. 

In which is nary a red. 

In his eye is nary a red, my boys, 

But keen and well he sees; 
He has a dark stripe on his side, 

Micropterus salmoides." 

Both species are remarkably active, muscular and vo- 
racious, with large, hard and tough mouths; are very bold 
in biting, and when hooked exhibit gameness and endur- 
ance second to no other fish. Both species give off the 
characteristic musky odor when caught. 
4 



50 Book or the Black Bass. 

Both species often inhabit the same waters in the north- 
ern states, and there is some diversity in their habits where 
they exist together. Xaturally, the small-mouth bass pre- 
fers rocky streams or the gravelly shoals and bottom springs 
of lakes and ponds, while its large-mouth congener lurks 
about the submerged roots of trees or sunken logs in rivers, 
and delights in the beds of rushes and aquatic plants of 
lacustrine waters; but they readily adapt themselves to 
waters of various conditions, when transplanted, easily ac- 
commodating themselves to their surroundings, and have 
a happy faculty of making themselves at home wherever 
placed, so that in some localities their habits are as anoma- 
lous as their colors. 

There is a prevalent notion that the small-mouth bass is 
the "game" species par. excellence. In common with 
most anglers I at one time shared this belief, but from a 
long series of observations I am of the opinion that the 
large-mouth bass, all things being equal, displays as much 
pluck, and exhibits as untiring fighting qualities as its 
small-mouth cousin. 

Ichthyologists have at various times given to the genus 
Microjjterus numerous appellatives, and to the species more 
than fifty specific names, while laymen in different sections 
of the country have contributed their quota of vernacular 
names, among which may be mentioned : bass, black bass, 
green bass, yellow bass, river bass, l)ayou bass, slough bass, 
lake bass, moss bass, grass bass, marsh bass, Oswego bass, 
swago bass, perch, black perch, j^ellow perch, trout perch, 
jumping perch, Welshman, salmon, trout, black trout, white 
trout, chub, southern chub, Roanoke chub, achigan, etc. 

In addition to this formidable and perplexing array of 
names, there are other evils which add very much to the 
confusion attending the nomenclature of the black bass. 



Distinctive Features. 51 

Among them is the careless habit of many correspondents 
of our sportsmen's journals, who write of bass, bass tackle, 
bass fishing, etc., meaning black bass in each instance, but 
leave it to the imagination of the readers of those journals 
as to what particular kind of " bass " is meant. 

Now this is all wrong, and is owing to carelessness, or 
perhaps in some instances to a want of proper information, 
and is a habit that ought to be reformed. We should learn 
to call things by their right names. A rose by any other 
name may smell as sweet, but as there are many varieties 
of roses they must be distinguished by correct and specific 
names, and not by their odors. It is just as easy to write 
the distinctive name " black bass " as the general name 
" bass." 

Bass is a very vague term at best, meaning one thing in 
one part of the country, and a totally different thing in an- 
other. Along the eastern coast it means a striped bass 
(Roccus Uneatus), or a sea bass (Centropristes striatus) ; 
in Florida it means a channel bass (Scicenops ocellatus) ; 
in the west it may be either a black bass (Micropterus) , a 
rock bass (Amhloplites rupestris), a white bass {Roccus 
clirysops), or a calico bass (Pomoxys sparoides) ; while in 
Otsego County, ISTew York, it means an Otsego bass (Core- 
gonus clupeiformis var. otsego), which is not a bass at all 
but a whitefish. 

Then, again, some of these correspondents write of the 
real black bass, meaning usually the small-mouth species, 
seeming to imply that the other species is not real, or at 
least is not the black bass, but something else — a kind of 
pseudo variety. Others in writing of the large-mouth spe- 
cies, owing to its former name, M. nigricans, have called it 
the real black bass, under the impression that as it was 
named nigricans — i. e., black — the other species must be 



52 Book or the Black Bass. 

some other color, and could not be the simon-pure article. 
Now, one species is not more real than the other ; the small- 
mouth bass is regarded as the type species because it was 
the first to be described by a naturalist, and given a specific 
and generic name. 

The term " black bass," then, is distinctive, and should 
always be used when alluding to the genus generally. The 
different species should be mentioned as the small-mouth 
black bass or the large-mouth black bass, as the case may 
be, no matter whether the color be black, green or yellow. 
One will then know exactly what is meant, and the confu- 
sion and uncertainty alluded to will be cleared away : 

" Not chaos-like, together erush'd and bruis'd, 
But, as the world, harmoniously confus'd, 
Where order in variety we see. 
And where, though all things differ, all agree." — Pope. 



Coloration. 53 

CHAPTER IV. 

COLORATION OF THE BLACK BASS. 

"And it is so with many kinds of fish, and of trouts especially; 
which differ in their bigness and shape, and spots and color." — 
IzAAK Waltox. 

The external appearance of the black bass, as exhibited 
in the colors and markings, differs so greatly and con- 
stantly in different sections of our country, that it would 
be useless to describe them minutely in a specimen from 
any given locality; for as the vernacular names of fishes 
are usually bestowed with reference to the outward pecu- 
liarities of coloring, this has already given rise to much 
confusion in naming the species. Thus they are called 
black, green, or yellow bass, respectively, in different sec- 
tions of the United States, and not without reason, for 
black, green or yellow are the predominating colors of the 
two species, though these colors are always toned down to 
intermediate shades, with plumbeous, olivaceous or ochre- 
ous tints. 

The color, however, is always darkest on the back, with 
a gradual shading or paling toward the belly or abdomen, 
which is always white or whitish. Where the two species 
of black bass are common to the same stream or lake, the 
small-mouth bass is generally the darkest in color, though 
this is by no means an invariable rule ; for in other waters 
the small-mouth bass may be of a lighter or paler hue than 
the other species — usually yellowish-olive or tawny-gray, 
but often pale green — while the large-mouth bass will be 
of a dark green or bronze green coloration, and sometimes 
quite dusky. 



54 Book or the Black Bass. 

Then, again, in some waters, no distinct coloring is ap- 
parent, the fish presenting merely a pale or faded appear- 
ance ; especially is this likely to be the case in large streams 
much subject to overflow, and whose waters are often 
muddy or discolored. Hence, as may be surmised, color 
is not an important factor in the differentiation of the 
black bass species. 

While some have no distinct markings, others are marked 
by dark, maculated, transverse or vertical bars ; some, again, 
by longitudinal or lateral bands ; and still others by mottled 
lines, dusky spots, or finger marks. Usually, when bass 
are so marked, the mottled bands run lengthwise in the 
large-mouth species, while the small-mouth bass is marked 
by transverse bars or finger marks; but tliese distinctions 
are not infallible. The small-mouth bass of the extreme 
southwest exhibits, sometimes, several mottled lines run- 
ning lengthwise along the series of scales. 

After being taken out of the water, the colors and mark- 
ings of the fish change materially; usually, the brighter 
colors fade rapidly, while the dusky spots, bars, or bands 
become more distinct; this change of color is more fre- 
quently observed in the small-mouth species. Sometimes, 
liowever, the markings will disappear, and the sides of the 
fish will assume a uniform coloration. 

Then, again, the colors of the black bass frequently 
change with each season of the year; and there is, more- 
over, always a marked difference in the colors and mark- 
ings of the fish at different stages of its growth. In the 
young, the colors are brighter and the markings more dis- 
tinct than in the adult fish, for it is not unusual for the 
latter to become almost obsolete with age. 

The fins are likewise subject to variation in coloring and 
markings; they may be either dusky or greenish, reddish 



COLORATIO>L 55 

or 3'ellowish, and are, usually, more or less punctulated or 
spotted. The tail is often lighter in color at the base and 
outer edge, and dark or dusky between; thus one of the 
names proposed by Eafinesque for the small-mouth species 
— Calliurus punctulatus, i. e., " dotted painted-tail " — 
was founded upon the peculiar coloration of the tail of a 
young bass, his description of the caudal fin being : " base 
yellow, middle blackish, tip white." Sometimes, however, 
especially in mature specimens, the tail has a dark border, 
•while the middle is of a lighter tinge; and often the entire 
caudal fin will have a uniform coloration. 

There are, commonly, several — usually three — dusky 
or olivaceous streaks along the cheeks and gill-covers. 

Inconstancy of coloration is not exceptional with the 
black bass, for all other genera of fresh water and ana- 
dromous fishes exhibit this jieculiarity in a greater or less 
degree. Among the causes assigned for the changes in 
coloration, and which have been either proven true or 
made tenable by actual experiment and careful observa- 
tion, are: (1) character of food; (2) condition, depth and 
temperature of water; (3) color and character of beds 
of streams, lakes or ponds; (4) atmospheric conditions; 
(5) age; (6) season of the year; and (7) the changes in- 
cident to the breeding season; while some assume that 
(8) the power of changing color is voluntary with some, if 
not all, fishes. 

Eichard Owen, in "Anatomy of the Vertebrates/' 
says : 

" The varied, and often brilliant colors of fishes, are due to 
pigment cells at different depths of the skin, but chiefly in the 
active or differentiating area. Those of silvery or golden luster 
are mostly on the surface of the scales. The silvery pigment 
called ' argentine ' is an article of commerce used for the color- 
ing of fictitious pearls, and oflfers a crystalline character under 



56 Book of the Black Bass. 

the microscope. The blue, red, green, or other bright-colored pig- 
ment is usually associated with fine oil, and occupies areolae 
favoring accumulation at, or retreat from, the superficies, and 
thus effecting changes in the color of the fish, harmonizing their 
exterior with the hue of the bottom of their haunts." 

From the nature of the pigment cells, as portrayed in 
this description^ it is easy to imagine how susceptible they 
are to the influences of such causes as those above enume- 
rated. 

The Salmonidcc have been more studied, perhaps, than 
any other family of fishes, and yet in none has there been 
more confusion in classification, owing in a great measure 
to the differences of external appearance, as caused by these 
various influences. 

The German naturalist, Seibold, says: "In none of 
our native [German] fish is there such variety of color, 
according to the different influences of food, water, light 
and temperature, as in the toothed salmons." 

Another German scientist, Carl Peyrer, says of the com- 
mon brook trout of Germany (Trutta fario) : " The 
color, and partly also the size which it reaches, vary ac- 
cording to its location, the influences of light, the season, 
water, and food, and therefore several varieties are dis- 
tinguished, such as the forest or stone trout, the alpine or 
mountain trout, the gold or pond trout, the lake trout, and, 
according to the lighter or darker coloring, the white trout, 
the black trout, etc." Truly almost as polyonomous as our 
black bass. 

That difference in food produces difference in coloration 
is pretty generally admitted. Those of the salmon family 
which feed upon Crustacea and larvae exhibit the most bril- 
liant colors, while those which live upon insects, minnow?, 
^vorms, etc., are much duller in hue. 



Coloration. 57 

Sir Humphrey Davy, in his familiar work, " Salmonia/' 
says : 

" I think it possible when trout feed much on hard substances, 
such as larvae and their cases, and the ova of other fish, they have 
more red spots and redder fins. This is the case with the gillaroo 
and the char, who feed on analogous substances; and the trout 
that have similar habits might be expected to resemble them. 
When trout feed on small fish, as minnows, and on flies, they have 
more tendency to become spotted with small black spots, and are 
generally more silvery." 

Charles Lamnan, an angling artist and author, says : 

" Various causes have been assigned for the great variety in the 
color of the brook trout. One great cause is the difference of 
food; such as live upon fresh-water shrimps and other Crustacea, 
are the brightest; those which feed upon May-flies and other 
aquatic insects are the next; and those which feed upon worms 
are the dullest and darkest of all." 

Dr. A. T. Thompson, the author of " Treasury of Na- 
tural History," observes: 

" That each species of trout has its peculiarities of color, but 
the common trout is the most beautiful of its class; the variations 
of its tints ahd spots, from golden-yellow to crimson and greenish- 
black, are almost inflnite, and depend in a great measure on the 
nature of its food, for the colors are always the most brilliant in 
those fish that feed on the water shrimp." 

Near Waterville, Waukesha County, Wisconsin, thirty 
years ago, was an extensive trout hatching establishment, 
where a number of fine springs formed a considerable 
stream after leaving the ponds and flumes, and into which 
a number of brook trout had escaped at various times, so 
that finally it became well stocked with trout, which propa- 



58 Book of the Black Bass. 

gated naturally in the stream. The trout which were 
reared artificially were kej^t in covered plank flumes, and 
in open ponds, and were fed principally on chopped liver; 
those in the ponds got some addition to this fare, however, 
in aquatic flies, insects, etc. The stream contained a great 
many crawfish, which did much damage to the dams and 
ditches of adjacent cranherry marshes. Frequently visit- 
ing this establishment, 1 was struck with the remarkable 
difference in the colors of the trout in the flumes, in the 
ponds, and in the stream. Those in the flumes were quite 
dull in appearance ; those in the ponds were brighter ; while 
those in the stream were very highly colored, caused, per- 
haps, by their feeding upon the crawfish with which the 
stream abounded. The dull color of the trout in the flumes 
was partly owing to their shaded condition. 

Not only does the character of the food seem to influ- 
ence the external coloring of the salmon family, but the 
tint of the flesh, if I may so call it, may also be affected 
by the same cause ; thus, Louis Agassiz states that the mor^t 
beautiful salmon-trout are found in waters which abound 
in Crustacea, direct experiments having shown to his satis- 
faction that the intensity of the red color of their flesh 
dejjends upon the quantity of Gammaridcu (shrimp) which 
they have devoured. 

The red-throat trout (Salmo clarJiii lewisi) of Henrys 
Ijake, at the head of Snake Eiver, in Idaho, and likewise 
those of Soda Butte Lake in the Yellowstone National 
Park, are noted for the deep red tint of their flesh — as 
red as that of the Chinook salmon — and on this account 
are erroneously called "salmon-trout." The probable 
cause of their red flesh may be found in the extraordinary 
abundance of fresh-water shrimp that inhabit both lakes, 
which are of similar character, being shallow, with muddy 



Coloration. 59 

bottom and a luxurious growth of water weeds, conditions 
exceedingly favorable for the growtli and increase of the 
shrimp. 

A striking instance of the difference in coloring of the 
flesh from the influence of age or season, is related by the 
European ichthyologist, Dr. Fric, in regard to the salmon 
of Bohemia. He says that there are three different ascents 
of the salmon during the year : The first ascent begins in 
February or March under the ice, and lasts till May. These 
salmon weigh from twenty-five to fifty pounds, and are 
famous under the name of " violet-salmon." The second 
ascent begins in June and lasts till August. These fish 
have a reddish flesh, and weigh from twelve to twenty-two 
pounds, and are known as " rose-salmon." The third as- 
cent is from Septeml^er until December. These fish are 
mostly weak, weighing from three to fifteen pounds. 
Their flesh is pale, and they are usually called "silver- 
salmon." 

The trout of the mountain lakes of the Alps, according 
to the season and the nature of the water they inhabit, have 
their flesh whitish or reddish. 

The color and condition of the ivater has likewise a very 
marked effect upon" the external appearance of the Salmon- 
idee. Agassiz found that the color of book trout of 
neighboring streams was influenced by the color and quan- 
tity of the water, and that even trout of the same stream 
differed in color as they frequented the shady or sunny 
side. He also found that fish in clear, sunny waters, with 
gravelly bottoms, were highly and brightly colored; while 
those in shady streams, or where the bottom Avas dark or 
muddy, and the water not so clear, were correspondingly 
dusky in hue; and that bright fish taken from w^aters of 
the former character and placed in those of the latter, 



60 Book of the Black Bass. 

would begin to fade in a few hours, and in a few days or 
weeks would become entirely changed in hue. 

The great lake trout {Cristivomer namaycush) exists in 
three different states of color, according to situations in 
which it is found, and were thought by the French hahi- 
tans of the great lakes to be three distinct fishes, known 
as truite do greve, or trout of the muddy bottom; truite 
ties hattures, or trout of the rocky shores; and truite du 
large, or trout of the deep, open waters; the first being 
dull-colored, the second bright and handsomely mottled, 
and the last bluish and silvery. 

Charles Lanman truly observes, that the fish of streams 
rushing rapidly over i^ebbly beds, are superior both in ap- 
pearance and quality to those of ponds or semi-stagnant 
brooks. But this may arise, not so much from any par- 
ticular components of the waters themselves, as from the 
fact that rapidly running and falling water is more highly 
aerated, the atmosphere being more freely intermingled 
with it, and therefore more conducive to the health and 
condition of all that inhabit it. 

The influence of light in producing color in fishes is very 
evident when we reflect that fishes are always colored upon 
the back, which is exposed to the direct rays of light, and 
pale underneath, usually being quite white on the abdo- 
men. This fact is especially pronounced in the flat fishes, 
which swim upon the side ; thus the flounder, the sole, th(i 
turbot, the halibut, etc., are dark and variously colored 
upon the side presented to the light, while they are quite 
pale or white on the under side. Fishes which inhabit 
dark caves, owing to the absence of light, are entirely color- 
less. 

That the age of flsli has much to do with their color is 
well known; a familiar example being the common gold- 



Coloration. 61 

fish, which in earl}^ youth is black or dark colored, and 
only assumes its beautiful golden hue at maturity. 

During the hreeding season of fishes their colors become 
much heightened, but they lose their brightness and bril- 
liancy in many cases when the season is over. A salmon 
fresh-run from the sea is justly considered the most beauti- 
ful of fishes, but after the spawning season there is none 
more sorry and ill-looking. Darwin mentions some very 
interesting particulars, among which, that the pike, espe- 
cially the male, during the breeding season, exhibits colors 
exceedingly intense, brilliant and iridescent. 

Another striking instance out of many is afforded by the 
male stickleback, which is described by Mr. Warrington 
(England) as being then beautiful beyond description : 

" The back and eyes of the female, on the other hand, are the 
most splended green, having a metallic luster like the green feather 
of humming-birds. The throat and belly are of a bright crimson, 
the back of an ashy green, and the whole fish appears as though 
it was somewhat translucent, and glowed w^ith an internal in- 
candescence. After the breeding season, these colors all change; 
the throat and belly become of a paler red, the back more green, 
and the glowing tints subside." 

The well-known and beautiful spring, or breeding 
dresses, of many of our darters and minnows, are common 
illustrations of the influence of the breeding season upon 
the change of color in fishes. 

The coloration of the young of the small-mouth bass 
is light green, with golden reflections, and with numerous 
small dots or punctulations, which aggregate in small clus- 
ters, approaching somewhat the appearance of vertical bars. 
The iids is golden. The base of the caudal fin is 3Tllowish, 
the tip whitish, and dark olivaceous or blackish in the 
middle. 



62 Book of the Black Bass. 

In the young of the large-month bass the color is also 
greenish but darker, with a blackish band along the lateral 
line, and clusters of dark spots alDOve and below. The iris 
is golden. The base and tip of the caudal fin is some- 
what paler than in the middle. 

Those who keep their fish alive in fish-cars or live-boxes, 
or by the more reprehensible practice of stringing the 
fish, will observe that however different in coloration fishes 
of the same species may appear when first caught, that 
after being subjected to the same conditions for a few 
hours they will all exhibit the same coloration. 

A familiar instance of the change of coloration due to 
environment, or change in the condition, character, depth 
or temperature of the w^ater, or in the food, is seen in the 
Canadian sea-trout. This is merely the brook-trout that 
has become anadromous and runs to the sea. When it re- 
turns, in the spring or early summer, to the mouths of the 
streams, it is, like most marine fishes, of a bright, silvery 
appearance; but after being in fresh water a short time it 
again takes on the characteristic colors and spots of the 
brook-trout. I have taken them in both their salt-water 
and fresh-water colors, and in a transition stage, in the 
Restigouche Eiver, between Matapedia and Campbellton, 
Xew Brunswick. 

The external coloration of fishes depends on the pres- 
ence of variously-colored pigment-cells in one or both lay- 
ers of the skin. These pigment-cells are said to be under 
the influence or control of the nervous system, and are 
thus able to cause changes of color which may be rapid or 
temporary, or more or less permanent. 

In some fishes, as the black bass, the change in colora- 
tion is involuntary, and is, without much doubt, occasioned 
bv an increase or decrease in the number of the different 



Coloration. 63 

pigment-cells, owing to the influences of light, depth of 
water, temperature, surroundings, etc. 

In some other fishes the change of coloration is much 
more rapid, and seems to depend on a contraction or ex- 
pansion of the pigment-cells already developed, and which 
are very sensitive to surrounding conditions, especially to 
light. Owing to this rapid change in the colors of certain 
fishes, when exposed to the light, they are thought by some 
to be endowed with the power of changing their colors at 
will, or voluntarily. This, however, is not very likely. 



64 ' Book of the Black Bass. 

CHAPTER V. 

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION". 

" You may remember that I told you, Gesner says there are no 
pikes in Spain; and doubtless, there was a time, about a hundred 
or a few more years ago. when there were no carps in England."' — 
IzAAK Walton. 

The black bass is wholly unknown in the Old World, 
except where recently introduced, and exists, naturally, 
only in North America. The original habitat of the genus 
is remarkable for its extent, for, with the exception of the 
New England states and the Atlantic seaboard of the 
middle states, it comprised the whole of the United States 
east of the Eocky Mountains, Ontario (Canada), and East 
Mexico. 

Of late years the range of the black bass has been ex- 
tended through the efforts of public-spirited individuals, 
and by the Fish Commissioners of various states, so that 
at the present time this noble fish may be said to have a 
^' local habitation and a name " in every state of the Union. 
It has also been successfully introduced into England, 
Scotland and the Continent of Europe. 

Of the two species, the large-mouth bass had the widest 
distribution, occurring all through the vast scope of terri- 
tory as mentioned. The small-mouth bass had a somewhat 
limited range in comparison, not extending east or soutli 
beyond the Alleghany mountains, though occurring nearly 
everywhere else, except in the Gulf states, with the large- 
mouth species. 

The fact that the original habitat of the black bass did 
not embrace New England and the Pacific slope is not re- 



Distribution. 65 

markable, for the characteristically American forms of 
fishes are, generally speaking, rare or absent in the waters 
of those sections. This fact was noticed by Louis Agassiz, 
who called New England " a zoological island/' on account 
of its faunal peculiarities as compared with the rest of the 
United States. Thus, of more than a hundred genera of 
f resh-Avater fishes now known to occur in the waters east of 
the Mississippi Eiver, only about one-fourth occur in N'ew 
England, and of these, all except a half-dozen genera are 
represented by but a single species each; and not more 
than thirty-five genera occur in the waters of the Pacific 
slope. Almost any stream of any extent of the Ohio or 
Mississippi basins will furnish double the number of genera 
and species as the entire waters of either of the above- 
named sections. Thus, as Dr. Jordan states, " In the 
little White River, at Indianapolis, seventy species, repre- 
senting forty-eight genera, are known to occur — twice as 
many as inhabit all the rivers of New England." 

The distribution of the black bass does not seem to be 
much affected by geological formations, climatic influences, 
or the character of waters ; for although one or both species 
may have been absent originally in certain localities, they 
readily, adapt themselves to the waters of these sections 
when transplanted, and rapidly increase. 

Originally, both species were at home among the primor- 
dial rocks of the eozoic period of Lake Champlain, north- 
ern Wisconsin, and along the Appalachian chain in the 
Carolinas and northern Georgia. They flourished amid 
the paleozoic rocks of the Great Lake region and the Mis- 
sissippi Valley, and in the coal measures of the Ohio, Illi- 
nois, and Missouri River basins; while in the marine 
tertiary formations of the cenozoic period, along the At- 
5 



66 Book of the Black Bass. 

] antic and Gulf slopes of the southern states, the large- 
mouth bass alone occurs. Thus, while the small-mouth 
bass seems to be restricted naturally to the older formations, 
the large-mouth bass roams at his own sweet will through 
the regions of metamorphic and stratified rocks and glacial 
drift, down to the recently formed coral rocks of the pe- 
ninsula of Florida. 

Climatic influences do not seem to affect the distribution 
of the large-mouth bass in any degree, in the United 
States, and of the small-mouth bass only to a small ex- 
tent. The original habitat of the species extended through 
twenty-five degrees of latitude and thirty degrees of longi- 
tude, the small-mouth bass alone not occurring in the ex- 
treme ten degrees of southern latitude, and the ten degrees 
of extreme western longitude of this range. Thus, while 
the small-mouth bass is naturally restricted to cold and 
temperate waters, the large-mouth bass bids defiance alike 
to the ice-bound streams of Canada, the tropical lagoons of 
east Mexico, and the sunny streams of southern Florida. 
He flashes his bright armor under tlie firs and birches of 
the St. Lawrence basin, and erects his spiny crest in the 
grateful sliade of tlie palms and live oaks of the southern 
peinsula. To him it is given 

" To batho in fiory floods, or to reside 
In thrilling regions of thick-ribbed ice." 

The character of waters has but little influence upon the 
distribution of the species, less upon the large-mouth bass 
than upon his small-mouth congener. If the water is rea- 
sonably pure, both species will thrive in it; but, as has just 
been intimated, the small-mouth bass naturally seeks cooler 
and clearer waters. Thus, while he is found in the head- 
waters of certain rivers flowing into the Atlantic (notably 



Distribution. 67 

those of the Alleghany region of the Carolinas, Georgia, 
and Alabama), the large-mouth bass only occurs in the 
lower portions of the streams. There are several rivers in 
Hernando County, on the Gulf coast of Florida, that burst 
out from the base of a sandy ridge running parallel with 
the coast, and some twelve miles from it, whose sources are 
large springs, fifty or sixty feet deep, and of half an acre 
in extent. Their waters are remarkably clear and cool, 
with a strong current until tide-water is reached; and I 
have no. doubt but the small-mouth bass would thrive won- 
derfully well in the upper portions of the streams if intro- 
duced into them, as the conditions all seem favorable, and 
the large-mouth bass is abundant in them. 

As we approach tide-water, the small-mouth bass dis- 
appears. The large-mouth bass, however, true to his cos- 
mopolitan nature, descends the streams to their mouths, 
where he seems to be as much at home in the brackish 
waters of the estuaries as in the pure and crystal rapids 
of the highlands. 

The l^lack bass being in a manner omnivorous, is prob- 
ably not restricted in its range to any great extent by the 
supply of any one article of his food, though it would be 
affected, of course, by an abundance or scarcity of its food, 
as a whole. Crawfish and minnows are the principal food 
of adult black bass, and these are more or less plentiful 
throughout the waters of the United States. In addition 
to these, they feed upon insects, larvse, frogs, etc. The 
greater j^revalence of crawfish in clear, rocky streams, may 
throw some light upon the preference of small-mouth bass 
for such waters. 

The following account, by the late James AY. Milner, 
of the U. S. Fish Commission, of the introduction of the 
black bass into new waters, will be found very interesting 



68 Book or the Black Bass. 

and instructive, and is taken from the Keport of the U. S. 
Fish Commissioner for the years 1872-73 : 

"Among numerous records of their introduction, in very few 
instances discriminating properly between the two species, we give 
the following: In 1850, twenty-seven live bass were brought by 
Mr. Samuel Tisdale, of East Wareham, Mass., from Saratoga 
Lake and put into Flax Lake, near his home. In the jears 1851 
and 1852, others Mere brought to the number of two hundred and 
reared in ponds in the vicinity. The matter was kept quiet and 
fishing discouraged for five years, when the fish were found to 
have increased very rapidly. Some twenty-five ponds were stocked 
in the same county after Mr. Tisdale had initiated the experiment. 
Afterward, black bass from Mr. Tisdale's ponds were supplied to 
a lake in New Hampshire in 18G7, and to waters in Connecticut 
and Massachusetts. In 18G0 the Cuttyhunk Club, of Massachu- 
setts, introduced black bass into a pond in their grounds. In the 
year 1869 the Commissioners of the State, together with private 
parties, stocked several ponds and the Concord River with black 
bass, and in the following year other waters were stocked. 

" In Connecticut, in the winter of 1852-53. the black bass was 
introduced into Waramang Lake, in Litchfield county. They were 
brought from a small lake in Dutchess County, New York. A few 
years later they were said to have increased greatly. Another 
lake in the same county was stocked not long afterward. 

" Salstonstall Lake, near New Haven ; East Hampton Pond, in 
Chatham; Winsted Pond, in Winchester, and many ponds and 
lakes of the state, particularly in the northwest portion, were 
stocked with the l)lack bass previous to the year 18G7. 

"In the years 18G9, 1870, 1871, and 1872, thirty-seven lakes 
and ponds in different parts of the state were supplied^ with black 
bass. 

"As early as 18G4 or 18G5 black bass had been put into Rust's 
Pond, near Wolfborough, New Hampshire; in 18G8 a few were 
brought to Charlestown and Lakes Massabesic, Sunapee, Penna- 
cook, and Echo, and Enfield, Wilson's and Cocheco Ponds were 
well stocke<l; in 1870 and 1871 the New Hampshire Commission- 
ers introduced the black bass from Lake Champlain into the 
waters of the state at Meredith, Canaan, Webster, Canterbury, 



Distribution. 69 

Harrisville, Munsonville, Hillsborough, Warner, Sutton, New 
London, Andover, Loudon, Concord, and in Croydon. In Massa- 
besic and Sunapee Lakes, where they had been introduced, in 
1868 and 1869, they were found to have increased, and, on the 
authority of Dr. W. W. Fletcher, they have become exceedingly 
numerous in Sunapee Lake. 

" The Commissioners of the state of Rhode Island, since 1870, 
have stocked thirty ponds or small lakes in different parts of 
the state with the black bass. 

" In Maine, in the fall of 1869, the State Commissioners and 
the Oquossoc Angling Association introduced from Newburgh, 
New York, a quantity of black bass. The waters of Duck Pond, 
at Falmouth; Fitz Pond, in Dedham; Newport and Philips Ponds, 
Cochnewagan Pond, in Monmouth; Cobbosseecontee Lake, in Win- 
throp and adjoining towns, were stocked, and a few years after- 
ward were reported to have increased largely in numbers. 

" Since the year 1871, black bass [small-mouth] and Oswego 
bass [large-mouth] have been put into seventy lakes, ponds, or 
streams of the state of New York by the Commissioners. They 
had made their way of their own accord through the canals con- 
necting Lake Erie with the Hudson, into that stream. 

" Private citizens of Pennsylvania introduced the black bass 
[small-mouth] into the Susquehanna about 1869, at Harrisburg. 
In 1873 the tributaries of the Susquehanna, the Potomac, and 
Delaware Rivers were supplied with black bass by the Commis- 
sioners at thirty-five different points. 

'• In the year 1854, Mr. William Shriver, of Wheeling, Virginia, 
planted in the canal basin at Cumberland, Maryland, his former 
home, a number of the black bass [small-mouth] ; from the basin 
they escaped into the Potomac River, where they have increased 
immensely at the present day. They were moved from the waters 
of the Ohio River to their new locality in the tank of a loco- 
motive. Numerous cases have also occurred of transfer from one 
locality in the southern states to another. 

" There have been very many transfers of these valuable species 
that have not been recorded, as they are easily kept alive while 
being moved from one place to another, and propagate surely and 
rapidly in ponds, lakes, and rivers. 

" These details are given because they show the facility with 



70 Book of the Black Bass. 

which comparatively barren waters may be stocked to a con- 
siderable extent with good food-fishes, and they exhibit the general 
interest and attention that have been given to this mode of 
propagation." 

In the account above given, reference is made to the 
stocking of the Potomac Kiver with black bass by Gen- 
eral W. W. Shriver, of Wheeling, West Virginia. As this 
matter is often alluded to on account of the marvelous in- 
crease of the fish from so small a beginning — less than 
thirty bass having been originally transplanted — and as 
other parties have been accredited with the praiseworthy 
act who had nothing whatever to do with it, and whom I 
will not even mention here, it may not seem out of place 
to give the subject a little more space in this connection. 

The earliest reference to the matter, of which I have 
any knowledge, is contained in a letter describing the hab- 
its of the black bass, written by Mr. John Eoff, of Wheel- 
ing, West Virginia, and published in the Eeport of the 
Smithsonian Institution for 1854, and is as follows: 

" Mr. William Shriver, a gentleman of this place, and son of the 
late David Shriver, Esq., of Cumberland, Maryland, thinking the 
Potomac River admirably suited to the cultivation of the bass, 
has commenced the laudable undertaking of stocking that river 
with them ; he has already taken, this last season, some twenty or 
more in a live-box, in the water-tank on the locomotive, and 
placed them in the canal basin at Cumberland, where we are in 
hopes they will expand and do well, and be a nucleus from which 
the stock will soon spread." 

General Shriver, himself, in a letter to Philip T. Tyson, 
of Baltimore, Agricultural Chemist of Maryland, in Sep- 
tember, 1860, says: 

<( * * * rpj^g enterprise or experiment was contemplated by 
me long before the completion of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 
to the Ohio River at Wheeling, but no satisfactory mode of trans- 



Distribution. 71 

portation presented itself to my mind until after the completion 
of the great work (in, I believe, the year 1853), and in the fol- 
lowing year I made my first trip (although I made several after- 
wards in the same year), carrying with me my first lot of fish in 
a large tin bucket, perforated, and which I made to fit the opening 
in the water-tank attached to the locomotive, which was supplied 
with fresh water at the regular water stations along the line of 
the road, and thereby succeeded well in keeping the fish (which 
were young and small, having been selected for the purpose ) alive, 
fresh, and sound. 

" This lot of fish, as well as every subsequent one, on my arrival 
at Cumberland, were put into the basin of the Chesapeake & 
Ohio Canal, from which they had free egress and ingress to the 
Potomac River and its tributaries, both above and below the 
dam. * * *" 

General Shriver also states in a subsequent letter to Dr. 
Asa Wall, of Winchester, Virginia, dated September 17, 
1867: 

" The number of these black bass taken to the Potomac River 
by me, as well as I can now recollect, was about thirty. * " * " 

Mr. Edward Stabler, a well-known and reliable gentle- 
man of Maryland, in a letter to G. T. Hopkins, of the 
Board of Water Commissioners of Baltimore City, dated, 
"Baltimore, 10th Mo., 28, '65," and published in the 
"^ Baltimore Sun " during the same month, says : 

"After much delay and frequent disappointments and loss, from 
the lack of suitable transportation, I have succeeded in taking in 
the upper Potomac, and safely transporting to Baltimore, a fine 
lot of 'black bass' [small-mouth], with which to stock 'Swan 
Lake,' and also those in Druid Hill Park. 

"As a brief history of the introduction of this superior fish into 
the tributaries of the Chesapeake, and east of the Alleghanies — 
for they are, in my opinion, before the trout, both for sport and 
the table — may not be Avithout interest to some, it may be stated 
that some thirteen years since, my son, A. G. Stabler, then a con- 



72 Book of the Black Bass. 

ductor on the Baltimore & Ohio Kailroad, in connection with 
two public-spirited gentlemen of Wheeling (Forsythe and Shriver), 
brought from Wheeling Creek, West Virginia, a small lot of bass 
in the water- tank of his tender. They were placed in the Potomac, 
near Cumberland, and from this stock, the Potomac, for more than 
two hundred miles, and all its large tributaries — the Seneca, 
Shenandoah, Cherry Creek, Sleepy Creek, Great and Little Caca- 
pon, Patterson's Creek, South and North Branch, etc. — afford 
fine fishing. 

" They are, I know, from the Great Falls to a considerable 
distance west of Cumberland, for T have recently so taken them, 
and often weighing from five to seven pounds — from four to five 
pounds is not unusual. * * * " 

The " Baltimore American " in June, 1874, in an article 
on Fish Culture, remarked incidentally : 

" It was twenty years ago, that Alban G. Stabler and J. P. 
Dukehart, together with Forsythe and Shriver, brought a small 
lot of black bass in the tender of a locomotive from Wheeling 
Creek, West Virginia, and put them in the Potomac. From this 
small beginning, sprang the noble race of fish which now swarm 
in the river." 

It is certain from the above evidence, that General 
Shriver was the leading spirit in the enterprise, assisted, 
no doubt, by Mr. Forsythe, of Wheeling, and Mr. A. G. 
Stabler, of Baltimore. The latter gentleman, being the 
conductor of the train which carried the bass — and there 
is no evidence showing that more than one lot was taken — 
certainly had some share in the transaction ; and if he was 
a " chip off the old block " — for his father, above-men- 
tioned, was an enthusiastic angler — it would naturally be 
expected that he would have taken a lively interest in the 
affair. 

The circumstance is one in which I have always felt the 
greatest interest, for it occurred at the time when I first 



DiSTlUBUTION. 73 

left my native city of Baltimore for a home in the west; 
and I have a distinct impression of the matter, made at 
the time of its occurrence, either from having heard it fre- 
quently spoken of, or from reading accounts of it in the 
public prints of the day; and my early impressions have 
always connected the name of Mr. Stabler, then a con- 
ductor of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, with 
the praiseworthy act. 

At all events, it excited my curiosity as to the black 
bass, which I had then never seen, and prompted me to 
seek the acquaintance of that grand game-fish, which I very 
soon afterward proceeded to do, in the Miami River, near 
Cincinnati. It is scarcely necessary to say that I have 
ever since been on terms of the closest intimacy with him, 
he having almost supplanted, in my affections, the love 
I once bore my former piscatorial friends, the striped bass, 
the blue-fish, and the white perch of the Chesapeake and 
the Patapsco; but I must confess to an occasional retro- 
spective -weakness, and a kindly yearning for the old-time 
friends of my boyish days, not excepting the diminutive, 
but delicious " gudgeon " of the upper Patapsco and Her- 
ring Run. 



74 Book of the Black Bass. 

CHAPTER VI. 

HABITS OF THE BLACK BASS. 

" * * * they mutually labor, both the spawner and the melter, 
— ^ to cover their spawTi with sand, — or, watch it, — or hide it in 
some secret place, unfrequented by vermin or by any fish but 
themselves." — Izaak Walton. 

Spawning and Hatching. 

Black bass are very prolific, tlie females yielding fully 
one-fourth of their weight in spawn, or from two thou- 
sand to twenty thousand eggs, according to age and weight. 
The eggs are of the adhesive or glutinous class, and can 
not be manipulated in the same way as those of the salmon, 
trout, or shad (which latter are non-adhesive and sepa- 
rate) by the fish culturist. The eggs are inclosed or en- 
veloped in a glutinous matter of an adhesive character, 
which sinks at once to the bottom of the nest and become 
glued to the pob])les, rocks, sticks, etc. 

The period of spawing extends from early spring to mid- 
summer, according to the section of country, and tempera- 
ture of the water, and without regard to species; in the 
southern states occurring as early as March, and in the 
northern states and Canada, from the middle of May until 
the middle of July, always earlier in very shallow waters, 
and somewhat later in those of greater depth. 

In Waukesha County, Wisconsin, I observed a difference 
of from one to four weeks in the time of spawning, in the 
numerous lakes of that locality, owing to the difference in 
temperature of said lakes, caused by their varying depths. 

The bass leave their winter quarters in deep water about 



Spawning, 75 

a month or six v/eeks previous to the spawning season, at 
which times they can be seen running up streams and in 
the shallow portions of lakes, in great numbers. Soon 
afterward, the males and females pair off and prepare for 
breeding. Owing, seemingly, to a semi-migratory habit, 
and where the conditions are not favorable for th':m to 
ascend the inlets of lakes, they will descend outlet streams 
if the lake does not furnish suitable spawning grounds. 

They select favorable spots for their nests, usually upon a 
gravelly or sandy bottom, or on rocky ledges, in water from 
eighteen inches to three feet deep in rivers, and from two 
to six feet deej) in lakes and ponds, and, if possible, ad- 
jacent to deep water, or patches of aquatic plants, to which 
the parent fish retire if disturbed. 

The nests are circular, saucer-like depressions, varying 
from one to three feet (usually about twice the length of 
the fish) in diameter, which are formed by the male fish, 
usualty, by fanning and scouring from the pebbles all sand, 
silt, and vegetable debris, by means of their tails and fins, 
and by removing larger obstacles with their mouths. This 
gives to the beds a bright, clean, and white appearance, 
which in clear water can be seen at a distance of several 
score yards. I have seen hundreds of such nests, in groups, 
almost touching each other, in the clear-water lakes of 
Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota. 

Sometimes the nests are formed upon a muddy bottom, 
Avith a pavement or foundation of small sticks and leaves, 
from which the mud and slime have been washed and 
scoured; and especially is this the case with the large- 
mouth bass, which w411 also make its nest upon the roots 
of water plants. 

The females deposit their eggs on the bottom of the 
nests, usually in rows, which are fecundated by the male 



76 Book of the Black Bass. 

and become glued to the pebbles or sticks contained therein. 
The eggs are hatched in from one to two weeks depend- 
ing on the temperature of the water^ but usually in from 
eight to ten da^^s. 

When hatched, the young bass are almost perfectly 
formed, from one-fourth to one-half of an inch in length, 
and cover the entire bed, where they can be easily detected 
by their constant motion. After hatching, the young fry 
remain over the bed from two to seven days, usually three 
or four, when they retire into deep water, or take refuge 
in the weeds, or under stones, logs, and other hiding- 
places. 

During the period of incubation the nests are carefully 
guarded by the parent fish, usually by the males, who re- 
main over them, and by a constant motion of the fins, 
create a current which aerates the eggs and keeps them 
free from all sediment and debris. After the eggs are 
hatched, and wliile the young remain on the nests, the 
vigilance of the parent fish becomes increased and un- 
ceasing, and all suspicious and predatory intruders are 
driven away. 

Their anxiety and solicitude for their eggs and young, 
and their apparent disregard of their own safety at this 
time, is well-known to poachers and pot-fishers, who take 
advantage of this trait and spear or gig them on their 
nests. They also take them with the minnow or crawfish. 
Of course the bass do not " bite " at this season, volun- 
tarily, but when the bait is persistently held under their 
noses, they at first endeavor to drive it away or remove it 
from the nests^ and finally, I think, swallow it in sheer 
desperation. 

Major Isaac Arnold, Jr., while in command of the 
Arsenal, at Indianapolis, Indiana, prepared a small pond in 



K5PAWXING. 77 

the grounds and stocked it with small-mouth bass from 
White Kiver and Fall Creek. For several years he had the 
opportunity of closely observing the fish during the breed- 
ing season, and records the following interesting data :* 

" I placed the bass in the pond for the sole purpose of noticing 
them during the breeding season, but the water in the pond was so 
crowded with a growth of algse that my observations have not 
been satisfactory, I think the female prepares the spawning 
ground or bed, after which the male joins her. Whilst the female 
is preparing the bed the males fight with each other for posses- 
sion. * * * The male presses the roe from the female by a 
series of bites or pressures along her belly with his mouth, the 
female lying upon her side during the operation. The male ejects 
the milt upon or over the roe from time to time, and the spaAATi- 
ing process lasts for two or three days. When the spawning is 
over, the male disappears from the scene, and the female remains 
upon the nest extremely pugnacious, allowing nothing to approach 
until the eggs have hatched and the young fry are a week or ten 
days old. The young fish commence at once to prey upon each 
other and continue until thej' are two or three weeks old, when 
cannibalism ceases and there is no more danger from that source." 

This accords, in the main, with my own observations, 
though I have never observed the male biting or pressing 
the abdomen of the female with his mouth; this feature, 
however, has been confirmed by Mr. Geo. C. Eixford, of 
Eixford, Florida, who observed the occurrence in that state. 
It would seem, then, that this proceeding is not uncommon 
to both species, as Major Arnold's observations were con- 
fined to the small-mouth, and those of Mr. Eixford to the 
large-mouth bass. 

I have often seen the female alone, and sometimes the 
male, and sometimes both together, spinning rapidly 

* Successful Propagation of Black Bass. By Major Isaac Ar- 
nold, Jr., U. S. A. < Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission, ii, 1882. 



7S Book of the Black Bass. 

around the nest, upon tlieir sides, ejecting the eggs or milt, 
which sank at once to the hottom. When the fish were in 
pairs, the edges of their bellies would be toward each other, 
sometimes in contact, as they circled around quite close to 
the bottom, with jerky, tremulous motions; but I never 
saw the male pressing the spawn from the female with his 
mouth. 

I record the following interesting item for the benefit of 
future observers. My own opinion is that such nests are 
constructed in lakes of considerable depth, with steep 
shores, where suitable bottom in shallow water can not be 
found, and the bass resort to this expedient for the pur- 
pose of bringing the eggs within the proper distance of the 
surface in order to obtain light and air. " Homo," of 
Philadelphia, thus writes to " Forest and Stream :" 

" While in Grand Rapids, jVIich., during my late vacation, I was 
informed by Dr. Parker, of the State Fish Commission, and a Mr. 
Hill, of that city, of a new feature in the habits of the black bass 
during spawning time, which had come under the notice of those 
gentlemen. It was that of the nest building of these fish within 
two or three feet of the surface in ten and fifteen feet of water. 
Mr. Hill told me he had frequently observed, at the head of some 
lakes and ponds in IVTichigan, a collection of ring moss and other 
vegetable matter, placed with a])parent design on the top of brush 
heaps which rested on the bottom of the lake and extended nearly 
to the surface of the water. Not knowing what they were, he 
made a critical examination and found them always guarded by 
the bass which had constructed the nest in the same manner in 
which they protect their ordinary nests made in the bed of the 
stream or pond. In many cases the nests would be three or four 
feet in diameter and larger than the top of the brush pile on 
which they rested. This habit of the bass I have never heard of 
before, and both Mr. Hill and Dr. Parker confessed they had never 
seen an account of it published. It may be some of your cor- 
respondents know of it and can give further light on the subject. 
May it not be that some peculiar character of the bed of these 



Spawning. T9 

bodies of water, where the nests are found, renders it impossible 
for the spawn of the fish which inhabit them to properly develop 
if deposited there, and the nest building is resorted to to aid in a 
better or more speedy hatching of the eggs? Perhaps more sun- 
light is wanted. I am at a loss to give a better explanation of 
the matter." 

The IT. S. Bureau of Fisheries and the Fish Commis- 
sions of several states have been experimenting for some 
years in the pond culture of black bass ; in most instances 
b}^ furnishing artificial nests of various kinds, in which the 
bass spawn. When the fry rise from the nests they are in- 
closed by screens or netting and subsequently removed to 
nursery ponds. This plan has not 3^et been attended by 
extraordinary success. The most practical way, so far, is 
to stock new waters with the parent fish and allow them to 
breed naturally. It is to be hoped, in view of the great 
demand for small black bass for stocking purposes, that the 
artificial plan mentioned, or some other, may be crowned 
with complete success. 

About 1868 to 1870, while residing in Wisconsin, I ex- 
perimented with the natural propagation of the black bass, 
by placing a number of adult fish of both species in a pond 
on my home grounds, which I connected with a lake by a 
roomy ditch. From blinds of bushes on the banks I 
watched, faithfully, the nesting and spawning of the fish 
for several seasons. A few days after the fry left the nests 
the parent fish were driven out of the pond and through 
the ditch into the lake. Suitable screens were then placed 
in the ditch and the young bass were kept until late in the 
autumn, when they too were turned into the lake. I 
reared many thousands each season in this way, which was 
but a slight modification of nature's plan. 



80 . Book of the Black Bass. 

Food and Growth. 

After the young bass leave the spawning beds their food 
at first consists of minute crustaceans; and later of insect 
larvae; as they grow older and larger they devour worms, 
tadpoles, small fish, etc. ; and, in later life, they vary their 
diet with crawfish, frogs, mussels, and minnows, until, at- 
taining a weight of two pounds, they will bolt any thing 
from an angle-worm to a young musk-rat. 

Dr. S. A. Forbes, of the Illinois State Laboratory of 
Natural History, was engaged, for a number of years, in 
the study of the food of fishes and birds. His examinations 
have been of the most careful and painstaking character. 
The following results have been attained in reference to 
the food of the black bass species.* 

Of the large-mouth black bass he examined the food of 
fourteen adults and seventeen young of different ages. The 
first group, consisting of five specimens under one inch in 
length, taken in June, July, and August of different years, 
showed that the entire food consisted of minute Crustacea, 
all Entomostraca, except in the case of a single fish, which 
showed seven per cent, of a very young amphipod. 

Six specimens, from one and a fourth inches to one and 
a half inches long had eaten minute fishes (twenty-nine per 
cent.) and insects (forty-six per cent.), the Crustacea drop- 
ping to twenty-five per cent. The fishes eaten were not 
large enough to determine the species. Two specimens be- 
tween two and three inches long had eaten only insects. 
Four specimens varying from three to three and one-half 
inches in lengtli liad eaten nothing but insects and their 
larvae. In the fourteen adults the food consisted of seven. 

* The Food of Fishes. By S. A. Forbes. < Bulletin iii, Ills. 
State Lab. Nat. Hist., 18, 1880. 



Food and Growth. 81 

per cent, of crawfishes, a few insects, and eighty-six per 
cent, of small fishes. 

In regard to the small-mouth bass, Dr. Forbes says : 

" I have made full notes of the food of twenty-seven specimens 
— three adult and the others young. I had none of these species 
under an inch in length, but, judging from the general resem- 
blance of the food of this and the preceding bass at later ages, I 
do not doubt that this will also be found to feed at first on 
Entomostraca, although insect food is possibly more important 
to it from the beginning." 

Seven small-mouth bass, from one to two inches in 
length, had eaten only five per cent, of Entomostraca, the 
remainder of the food consisting of insects and their larvae. 
Ten specimens, between two and three inches long, showed, 
in addition to the insect food, five per cent, of fishes, and 
in those ranging from three to four inches in length the 
amount of fish food increased to fourteen per cent., the in- 
sect food dropped to seven per cent., with seventy-nine per 
cent, of Crustacea. The three adults had eaten thirty-eight 
per cent, of fishes and sixty-two per cent, of crawfishes. 

Some allowance should be made for the character of the 
different waters in which the specimens were collected, as 
Entomostraca and other minute Crustacea are more abund- 
ant in still water, while the larvae of certain insects are 
more plentiful under the stones of rapid streams. 

Where food is plentiful the young grow rapidly, reach- 
ing a length of two inches in a few months after hatching, 
and at a year old, will measure, at least, four inches. At 
two years of age, they will be found from eight to twelve 
inches in length, weighing about a pound, and will grow 
nearly or quite a pound a year thereafter, until they attain 
their maximum weight. 

They arrive at maturity in from two to three years, ac- 
6 



82 Book of the Black Bass. 

cording as to whether the conditions for their growth were 
favorable or otherwise. The maximum weight of the small- 
mouth form of the north and west may be said to be four 
or five pounds, and of the large-mouth form, from six to 
eight pounds, though there are rare exceptions to this rule. 

In the warm waters of the southern states, which pre- 
serve a more equable temperature than those of the north- 
ern states, the large-moutli black bass grow to an immense 
size, their maximum weight, in Florida, being from twelve 
to fifteen pounds. 

In northern waters they do not grow nearly so large, 
six to eight pounds being the limit. Under conditions 
and circumstances favorable to their growth they will in- 
crease in weight, as before stated, about a pound a year; 
but under adverse circumstances or unfavorable conditions 
their growth is much slower; therefore, no rule of general 
application can be established from any single instance, or 
as the result of any exclusively local test or experiment. 

The growth of black bass is affected not only by the 
supply of food and temperature of water, but also by the 
extent of range. Bass in small ponds do not thrive so 
well, nor grow so fast; the smaller the extent of their 
range, the slower will be their growth, and, indeed, this is 
true of any other fish ; for it is well known that fish con- 
fined in aquaria, in springs or wells, grow so very slowly, 
that their increase in size is hardly appreciable from year 
to year, even though their supply of food be abundant. 

An equally well-attested fact is, that the largest bass 
are found in the largest bodies of water, or where the 
range is extensive; extreme depth of water seeming to be 
more favorable to their growth than mere extent of sur- 
face. For example, I know of several shallow lakes in 
Wisconsin, where the bass seldom grow to exceed two 



Food and Growth. 83 

pounds, while in deeper lakes in the same vicinity they 
attain the usual maximum weight of four or five pounds ; 
and in Green Lake, a large and deep lake near Eipon, in 
the same state, I once caught a string of thirty black bass, 
mostly of the large-mouth species, weighing from four 
to eight pounds each, and fully averaging six pounds. 

An instance, showing the rapid growth of black bass, 
is related by Mr. Charles J. Pearson, at that time Fish 
Warden for Morris County, New Jersey: He states that 
in the fall of 1876, fifty black bass, measuring from two 
and a half to four inches in length, were placed in D. L. 
Miller's pond at Madison, Morris County, New Jersey. On 
October 17th, 1S77, about one year from the time of put- 
ting them in, Mr. Miller had occasion to draw the water 
down, for some repairs. He had the flume so arranged as 
to take any fish that might run out. Eleven bass were 
caught. They measured from ten to thirteen inches in 
length, and were undoubtedly the same fish which were put 
in the year before, as none of this species of fish were ever 
known in the pond before. 

There is not an absolute uniformity of growth in fishes, 
any more than in other creatures ; thus, some fish will out- 
grow others of the same hatching until double their size, 
a fact made very apparent in the artificial culture of brook 
trout, salmon, etc. ; but black bass will grow with wonder- 
ful rapidity where an equable temperature of water and an 
abundance of food obtain. As an instance of the influence 
of an abundant supply of food upon the growth of black 
bass, A. N. Cheney, of Glens Falls, New York, related to 
me the following circumstance, and presented me with a 
fine photograph of the two fish alluded to: 

" I send you a photograph of two large-mouth bass caught by 
myself. They are, or, rather, one of them is, the largest baas 



84 Book of the Black Bass. 

ever caught in any waters about here, weighing seven pounds and 
fourteen ounces, and the other six and a quarter pounds. The 
most remarkable fact is, perhaps, the effect of food upon the 
growth of fish. The two fish in question were caught in Long 
Pond, near here, August 1, 1877. Long Pond was stocked with 
six small bass from Lake George, New York, in 1866, they having 
been put into a stream emptying into the pond by some gentlemen, 
who, on their way from camping a week at Lake George, had to 
cross this stream to reach home; and the putting the fish into 
the stream was suggested by their catching a number of small 
bass during the last day in camp. 

" The fact of their deposit was almost forgotten, when, in 
1874-75, quantities of bass were discovered in the pond, which had 
hitherto been inhabited by pickerel, perch, and quantities of bait 
fish, minnows, silver and gold shiners, etc. While Lake George 
has never been known to yield a bass over six and a half pounds, 
Long Pond has turned out at least a dozen over that weight." 

Upon a careful examination of the photograph, the fish 
mentioned were found to be, not large-mouth, but small- 
mouth bass without any doubt, and were extraordinary 
examples of that species, the usual maximum weight of 
which is about five pounds. Afterward Mr. Cheney re- 
corded the capture of several more of these small-mouth 
giants from the same waters (Long Pond, or Glen Lake). 

One of them, taken by a Mr. Reed, was seen and weighed 
by Mr. Cheney, who gave its proportions as follows : weight, 
eight and one-quarter pounds; length, from end of snout, 
to fork of tail-fin, twenty-two and one-half inches; girth, 
eighteen and one-half inches. Mr. Fred Mather saw this 
fish and pronounced it a small-mouth bass. 

The other and larger fish was captured in the same 
waters by a Mr. Boynton. Mr. Cheney weighed and 
measured it and gave its weight as eight pounds and ten 
ounces, its extreme length as twent)^-five inches, and its 
girth eighteen and three-fourth inches. 



Food and Growth. 85 

Following this several more immense small-mouth bass 
were taken from the same waters and recorded by Mr. 
Cheney, who tabulated them as follows : 

Captor. Weight. Length. Girth. 

Cheney SV4. lbs. 22 in. I81/2 in. 

Reed 8i^ lbs. 22i/i> in. ISVs in. 

Boynton 8 lbs. 10 oz. 25 in. 18% in. 

Pardo 8 lbs. 12 oz. 231/2 in. 19 in. 

Parker 10 lbs. 2o^^ in. 19 in. 

Seelye 11 1/2 lbs. 25 in. 21 in. 

Mr. Cheney commenting on the above said : 

" I weighed and measured Reed's, Boynton's, Parker's and my 
own fish; the other figures were given to me by the people who 
caught the fish and confirmed by witnesses." 

In preparing tables of exact measurements of the two 
species, as also tables showing the relative weight as to 
length, I found so much discrepancy in these respects in 
the same species from different localities, and even in fish 
from the same section, owing to slight variations of shape 
and conformation, that I concluded they would not sub- 
serve the purposes of a general guide, and so omitted them. 
This reason is very apparent as exemplified in the follow- 
ing list of fish from contiguous waters. 

The " Toronto Star " ofi^ered a prize of a fifteen-dollar 
rod to the angler taking the largest small-mouth bass in the 
province of Ontario, Canada, during the summer of 1903, 
the competition to close on September 15th. The fish 
entered for the prize, and which were all from lakes, except 
the last, a stream fish, vrere as follows : 

Length. Girth. W^eight. 

23 in. 17 in. 7 lbs. 

21 in. 17 in. 6 lbs. 4 oz. 

22% in. 15% in. 6 lbs. i/^ oz. 



86 Book of the Black Bass. 

Length. Girth. 

20 in. 14 in. 
22 in. 17 in. 
19% in. 16 in. 
221/^ in. 141/2 in. 

21 in. 141/2 in. 

20 in. 17 in. 

21 in. 18 in. 
21% in. 151/2 in. 

22 in. 161/2 in. 
2078 in. 
19% in. 14^5 in. 

20 in. 15 in. 
201/2 in. 131^ in. 
19% in. 14 in. 

21 in. 141/4 in. 
181/2 in. 121/2 in. 
211/2 in. 14% in. 
211/2 in. 16 in. 
20 in. 15 in. 
201/2 in. 141/2 in. 
I8I/2 in. 

Mr. PI. W. Ross, when in Florida, caught, in a " clear, 
deep, lily-bound lake," near Altoona, in that state, a large- 
mouth black bass which, he stated, weighed twenty-three 
and one-eighth pounds, and measured, from tip of nose to 
tip of tail, thirty-seven and one-half inches, and in girth, 
twenty-nine and one-half inches. The head of this fish 
was sent to the office of " Forest and Stream," in New 
York, and its dimensions were given by the editor as 
follows : 

" Its maxillary bone measures four and three-fourths inches ; 
the head is seven and one-half inches from the tip of the upper 
jaw to the end of the opercle, and the lower jaw projects one 
inch. The greatest girth of the head is sixteen and one-half 
inches." 



W^eight. 
6 lbs. 


5 lbs. 


14 oz. 


5 lbs. 


9 oz. 


5 lbs. 


8 oz. 


5 lbs. 


8 oz. 


5 lbs. 


8 oz. 


5 lbs. 


71/2 oz. 


5 lbs. 


7 oz. 


5 lbs. 


6 oz. 


5 lbs. 


3 oz. 


5 lbs. 


3 oz. 


5 lbs. 




4 lbs. 


14 oz. 


4 lbs. 


13 oz. 


4 lbs. 


12 oz. 


4 lbs. 


12 oz. 


4 lbs. 


9 oz. 


4 lbs. 


8 oz. 


4 lbs. 


4 oz. 


4 lbs. 


2 oz. 


3 lbs. 


9 oz. 



Hibernation. 87 

I have taken the hirgc-mouth bas3 in Florida up to 
fourteen pounds on the artificial fly, and as heavy as twenty 
pounds with bait. It is obvious- that where the large- 
mouth black bass does not hibernate, as in Florida, and is 
active all the year and constantly feeding, its size and 
weight will be much greater than in northern waters. 

Hibernation. 

Black bass undoubtedly hibernate, except in the extreme 
southern and south-western states; but in the colder 
climate of the north and west it has been proven in 
numerous instances that they bury themselves in the mud, 
in the crevices of rocks under masses of weeds or sunken 
logs, in the deepest water, and remain dormant until 
spring. 

This habit has been doubted by some, inasmuch as an 
occasional bass has been caught through the ice, though 
such instances are rare indeed, and all those of which I 
have any knowledge occurred late in the winter, or early 
in the spring. As one SAA'allow does not make a sunmier, 
these unusual cases must be considered as merely excep- 
tions to the general rule. 

During a residence of ten years in Wisconsin, where 
fishing through the ice was constantly practiced during 
the winter, and Avhere tons of pickerel, pike-perch and yel- 
low-perch were so t-aken in a single season, I never knew 
of a single black bass being taken in that manner except 
very late in the winter, or in early spring, say in March, 
just before the breaking up of the ice; and even those in- 
stances were of rare occurrence, and happened only during 
unusually mild weather; and these same waters, be it 
remembered, afforded the finest black bass fishing during 
the summer and fall. 



88 Book op the Black Bass. 

Dr. D. C. Estes, of Lake City, Minnesota, an accom- 
plished angler and naturalist, records a similar experience 
in regard to Lake Pepin ; he says : 

" The pike and pickerel are the only fish taken here in the 
winter. It is strange to many what becomes of the countless 
numbers of other game fish that throng these waters in the sum- 
mer season. Bass, which are so numerous then, are never seen in 
winter. I am quite sure that not a single bass was ever caught 
here through the ice. I have for years tried all depths of water 
to raise one, or to discover one, but have thus far failed. I must 
believe, then, that they hibernate." 

Genio C. Scott, in " Fishing in American Waters/' 
quotes an intelligent and veteran black bass angler of 
central New York, in regard to this habit, and who fur- 
nishes the following conclusive evidence: 

" I have never known them [black bass] to be taken in winter, 
and I think they seek a particular location and remain torpid 
during winter. My attention was directed to this fact about 
thirty years since. At that time I was in the haibt of spearing 
fish in a mill-dam on the outlet of Seneca Lake, at Waterloo, 
Seneca County, New York. From April to November I found 
numbers of bass; from December to March I found all other 
varieties, but no bass. 

" In the winter of 1837, the water was shut off at the lake for 
the purpose of deepening the channel to improve the navigation. 
This was considered a favorable time to quarry the limestone in 
the bed of the river ; and upon moving the loose rock in the above- 
named mill-dam, where the ledges cropped out, there were found 
hundreds of bass imbedded in their slime, and positively packed 
together in the crevices and fissures of the rocks. My subse- 
quent experience has done much to convince me that my theory 
is correct." 

On this point, A. N. Cheney related to me the follow- 
ing incidents: 

" A few years ago a man, Seth Whipple, living on the Hudson 
River, near Glens Falls, in drawing some sunken logs from the 



Hibernation. 89 

river, during the winter, for firewood, found in the hollow of one 
of the logs, six black bass ( small-mouth ) , weighing from a half 
to two pounds; they were nearly dormant. 

" The father of Pension Commissioner Bentley. who lives at 
Glens Falls, and has some trout ponds on his place, to gratify a 
boy bought of him a black bass, and placed the fish in a spring. 
When autumn came the fish was missing, and was supposed to be 
stolen. During the succeeding winter the spring partly dried up, 
and to restore the water supply the spring was dug deeper. Dur- 
ing the operation it was found necessary to remove an old stump 
in the side of the spring, when to his surprise the bass was found 
underneath the stump, in a hole, evidently prepared for winter 
burrow." 

Mr. John Eoff, of Wheeling, West Virginia, a remark- 
ably close observer, sa3^s, in the " Keport of the Smith- 
sonian Institution," for 1854 : 

" In the winter season they retire to deep and still water, and 
apparently hide under rocks, logs, etc., and remain there until 
the first of April." 

I could multiply evidence on this point, if necessary, 
but these several opinions, founded upon observations made 
in the widely separated states of Wisconsin and Minnesota 
in the west, jSTew York in the north, and West Virginia 
in the middle section of our country must suffice. 

That black bass do not hibernate in the extreme south, 
is well known ; and to this circumstance, may be attributed, 
in a measure, their larger growth. Still, it is not unreason- 
able to suppose, that the black bass of that section have a 
period of repose and seclusion, analogous to hibernation, 
at some other season of the year, possibly during the fervid 
heat of the summer solstice; for it is usual for the bass 
of the north and west to cease biting and retire to the 
deepest water during an unusually heated term in summer. 

The fact that the best season for black bass fishing varies 



90 Book of the Black Bass. 

in different sections — in the north being from July till 
October; in the west and most northerly of the southern 
states in the spring and fall; and in the extreme south 
during the winter season — would naturally lead one to 
suppose that the period of dormancy in the black bass oc- 
curs at different seasons in different localities, and is in- 
fluenced by climatic conditions, or the supply of food. 

But, notwithstanding the evidence heretofore adduced 
in support of this fact, the occasional catching of a black 
bass during the winter season, in the north and west, is 
sometimes heralded as a proof that former observers have 
been mistaken, and that these fishes, or at least the large- 
mouth bass, do not hibernate. 

Perhaps the term hibernation is not well understood, 
which may account for this hasty and erroneous conclu- 
sion. Hibernation does not necessarily imply, as supposed 
by some, a state of complete torpidity or profound sleep 
during the entire winter. To hibernate, according to 
Webster, is " to pass the season of winter in close quarters, 
or in seclusion;" and that is just what the black bass of 
both species do, in northern and western waters, as every 
one who has given the subject any intelligent investiga- 
tion is prepared to admit. 

When the temperature falls as low as 50°, the bass of 
running streams retire to the deepest holes, in the neigh- 
borhood of shelving rocks, if possible, under which they 
seclude themselves and remain in a listless condition. So 
also, in lakes or ponds, they leave their accustomed haunts, 
and retire to the deepest places, near bottom springs, 
masses of weeds, moss, etc. After a few days of warm or 
mild weather, especially if the temperature goes above 50°, 
they will venture out into water of somewhat less depth, 
when they may be induced to take a bait in a half-hearted 



Hibernation. 91 

manner, while the mild weather lasts ; but, on the approach 
of a cold snap they again retire to the deepest water. 
When the temperature rises above 50° — say to 55° — and 
does not fall below again, they leave their winter quarters 
for that season. 

From personal observation I am pretty familiar with the 
habits of both species of black bass, at all seasons of the 
year, in all sections, except in the New England states, 
and I am convinced that^ wath the exception of those in 
the Gulf states, both species of black bass hibernate in a 
greater or less degree, according to the temperature of 
the waters. 

The small-mouth bass of western Lake Erie hibernate 
under the ledges and cavernous reefs about the Bass 
Islands. In the spring, after the first fine weather in 
April or May, when emerging from their winter quarters, 
they linger on the reefs and bite ravenously for a week or 
two, or may be two or three weeks, until the weather be- 
comes still warmer, when they cease biting suddenly and 
depart toward their spawning grounds, wherever that may 
be, for they certainly do not spawn in the deep water on 
the reefs. 

After the cold northeast storms in September they again 
congregate on the reefs, preparatory to going into winter 
quarters, and bite until cold weather sets in, when they 
disappear under the ledges and reefs. A few stragglers, 
however, remain during the summer and spawn in the 
coves about the islands, but the main army seek other 
grounds more suitable for procreation, and where the food 
for the voung bass is more plentiful. 



92 Book of the Black Bass. 



CHAPTER VII. 

INTELLIGENCE AND SPECIAL SENSES. 

Venator. But, master! do not trouts see us, in the night? 
Piscator, Yes; and hear, and smell, too, both then and in the 
day-time, — Izaak Walton. 

The brain of fishes differs so materially in size, con- 
formation, substance and analog}^ from that of other ani- 
mals, that it has been the rule of specialists to attribute to 
this class of vertebrates a very low order of intelligence. 
In opposition to this theory, however. Dr. Francis Day, in 
a paper read before the Linna^an Society of London, Eng- 
land, endeavored to show that fishes possessed a far higher 
order of intelligence than is usually accorded them. 

He claimed that the experience of himself and others 
indicated that they possessed emotions and affections, and 
in support of that view he showed that they constructed 
nests, transported and defended their eggs, protected their 
young, manifested their affections for each other, recog- 
nized human beings, could be tamed, exhibited the emo- 
tions of fear, anger, and revenge, uttered sounds, hid from 
danger, sought protection by attaching themselves to the 
bodies of other animals, and had peculiar modes of de- 
fense; that they left the Avater in search of food, and that 
they sometimes combined for attack and defense. 

Every observant angler and naturalist has, in his own 
experience, proved the truth of many of the above asser- 
tions, and, no doubt, some have observed traits of intelli- 
gence still more convincing. 

The wonderful faculty of anadromous fishes, seeking out 
and ascending their native streams during the breeding 



Sense of Sight. 93 

season, even after being purposely carried hundreds of 
miles away, has commanded the admiration of biologists, 
yet they can see nothing in the small and jelly-like brain 
of the fish to account for the marvelous habit, but instinct ; 
on the same principle, perhaps, that Coleridge accounts 
for the blindness of Love: 

*' His eyes are in his mind." 

Sense of Sight. 

As the optic nerves of fishes show an extraordinary de- 
velopment, T\e must naturally conclude that they are as 
sharp-sighted in their element as we in ours. This, I 
think, no experienced fly-fisher will deny; yet it is the 
fashion for biologists to accord to fishes only a moderate 
visual capacity, as compared with land animals. But good, 
simple old Izaak Walton was much nearer the truth when 
he said : "A trout that is more sharp-sighted than any 
hawk you have named, and more watchful and timorous 
than your high-mettled merlin is bold." 

" In the range of their vision and acuteness of sight," 
says Dr. Gunther, " fishes are very inferior to the higher 
classes of vertebrates; yet, at the same time, it is evident 
that they perceive their prey or approaching danger from 
a considerable distance." 

We are led to believe, from the investigations of anato- 
mists, that the organs of special sense in fishes are very 
imperfectly developed; I am constrained to believe, how- 
ever, from the observations of myself and many others, 
that fishes have the senses of sight, hearing, and smell 
developed in a much greater degree than is generally 
supposed. 

The diversities in form and position of the eyes of 



94 Book of the Black Bass. 

different fishes, prove that they are of the greatest use to 
them, in procuring food, and in escaping from their 
enemies ; and are phiced " where they will do the most 
good/' 

In the majority of fishes, which are constantly moving 
about, and frequent alike the surface and bottom of 
streams, the eyes are placed in the usual position of most 
other animals, one on each side of the head. In those 
which stay more constantly in the lower depth of waters, 
the eyes are placed on top of the head, as in the star-gazers ; 
while in the flat fishes, which recline or swim on one side 
near the bottom, both eyes are placed on the same side of 
the head, enabling them to obtain the benefit of both eyes 
while in that position. In the pike-perch, wliich is noctur- 
nal in its habits, the eyes are imusually large, as is the case 
with other animals who seek their food mostly at night. 

It is a popular idea that fish are necessarily near-sighted 
on account of the conformation of the eye, which is large, 
round and prominent; and the main argument adduced to 
support this theory, is the readiness with which they will 
take an artificial fly, trolling spoon or other artificial bait, 
which resemble in but sliglit degree the natural objects of 
food that they are intended to represent, if, indeed, they 
are intended to represent any thing. 

It is often the case that those anglers who are most 
strenuous in their theory that fish are near-sighted, stultify 
themselves by carrying a large and most varied assortment 
of artificial flies, of all shapes and colors, in order to meet 
the "fastidious taste" of the fish, that often refuse one 
pattern or color, and rise eagerly to another, which could 
not be the fact were they so near-sighted as they believe. 
Tlie consistency of these anglers would be more apparent, 
if they would adopt Mr. Cholmondely Pennell's theory of 



Sense of Sight. 95 

artificial fiies, and confine themselves exclusively to his 
three typical flies — brown^ yellow, and green hackles. 

jSTow, I am not of those who believe that our brave 
game-fishes possess such extreme gullibility, as to mistake 
an artificial lure for the genuine article, upon the hypothe- 
sis of near-sightedness. Aly opinion, founded upon nu- 
merous experiments, is, that fishes see and hear as well, 
in and through the medium of the water, for all practical 
purposes, as the angler does through the medium of the 
atmosphere; the clearer and more rarified the medium, 
the clearer and greater the range of vision in both in- 
stances. 

In muddy or turbid waters the sight of fishes is neces- 
sarily limited, as ours would be in hazy or foggy weather. 
It is neither fair nor logical to presume that fishes, in 
water, ought to discern objects in the atmosphere above, 
any clearer or plainer than we can perceive objects in the 
water, while standing on the brink. 

We are altogether too prone to judge eveny thing from 
our own standpoint, and to attribute to our o\^ti clever- 
ness results that in all probability depend upon other and 
extraneous circumstances. Who, of us, could tell a skillfully 
tied artificial fly from a real one, beneath the water, when 
its surface was ruffled by a brisk breeze, shadowed by drift- 
ing clouds, covered with the froth and suds of an eddy, 
or surmounted by the foam and bubbles of a rapid? 

Yet, there are those who contend, because fish fail to 
detect this difi^erence through the same obstacles to clear 
vision, that they are of a verity near-sighted, and easily 
fooled by the very poorest semblance of a fly or feather}^ 
nondescript; but let one of these persons try a cast of the 
best flies upon a bright, still day, when the water is per- 
fectly clear and the surface like a mirror, and if he expects 



96 Book of the Black Bass. 

to get a rise under such conditions, he himself must be 
very near-sighted indeed. 

On the other hand, any one who has seen a black bass 
dart like an arrow and seize a minnow swimming quietly 
thirty feet away, or a brook trout flash like a meteor for 
a dragon fly hovering near the water at the same distance, 
must admit that their visual powers are sufficient for all 
practical purposes. 

It is quite amusing to hear an angler expatiate learnedly 
on the dimness of sight and dullness of hearing in fishes, 
and in the next breath caution the tyro to have his cloth- 
ing conform as nearly as possible with the hues of the 
foliage skirting the stream; to keep out of sight, tread 
lightly, and make as little noise as possible; and to assure 
him, that, even then, the chances are that the fish will see 
the novice before he sees the fish. 

It is a curious contradiction of theory and practice, a 
fishy illustration of the abstract and concrete. The expla- 
nation I conceive to be this: our Piscator would be con- 
sidered a scientific angler, which, in his case, becomes a 
contradiction of terms; for while blindly holding to the 
opinions of some closet naturalist, he is practically follow- 
ing the dictates of his own experience and common sense. 

Now, it is possible to be scientific and an angler, too, 
but our science, like our angling, must be practical, and 
must of necessity be learned by close observation and study 
of the habits of the fishes as they exist in nature, and not 
alone from the study of the physical construction of a 
preserved specimen. 

I am well aware that many scientists consider fish 
myopic, or near-sighted; not, liowever, on account of ex- 
cessive convexity of the cornea, as is popularly supposed, for 
it is an exploded theory in medical science that myopia 



Sense of Sight. 97 

depends necessarily upon this condition; indeed, in fishes 
the cornea is almost flat, while in birds of prey, which have 
a very extended range of vision, the cornea is quite convex. 

From the lack of analogy, from the great difference in 
construction of the ocular and auditory apparatuses of 
fishes and terrestrial animals, and from the wide difference 
in the properties of the media of air and water, I am con- 
vinced that the organs of the special senses of sight and 
hearing in fishes are not well understood at the present 
day; and I am confident that future investigations will 
prove them to be possessed of much greater acuteness of 
vision and hearing, than is now accorded them. 

Most fresh-water fishes, during the breeding season, take 
on a more pronounced coloration, the males especially be- 
coming sometimes quite gorgeous in their nuptial dress. 
If fishes are so defective in sight as not to distinguish 
color, why this well-known periodical change in their 
appearance ? 

It is a well-known fact that fishes are attracted by any 
gay, bright, or glittering substance, as a finger-ring, a 
sleeve-button, or a coin, and have deliberately swallowed 
them when dropped in the water. I have caught brook 
trout with wintergreen and partridge berries, the bright 
scarlet color seeming to allure them, and I have even 
caught them with a naked bright fish-hook; but all this 
does not prove that they were the victims of a myopic 
mistake, or that in their near-sightedness they mistook these 
various articles for something else ; neither does it prove 
that a black bass will grab at a trolling spoon, a bluefish 
snap at a bone squid, or a Spanish mackerel seize a metal 
or pearl troll under the delusion that they are really choice 
shiners, or delicate piscatorial tidbits. 

A camel, it is said, will bolt all sorts of substances, as 
7 



98 Book of the Black Bass. 

metal, glass, stones, leather, etc., but when were his short- 
comings attributed to short-sightedness? Our dogs will 
often refuse good, clean food and hunt up an old dry bone, 
a stone, an old shoe, or a stick, and will gnaw them with 
delight, and even swallow them with evident gratification. 
Birds will peck at and swallow bright beads, colored 
threads, etc., and kittens will seize, claw and bite almost 
any moving small object ; but these vagaries are attributed 
to the idiosyncracies of the animals mentioned, while in 
fishes they are ascribed to defective sight. 

But what are a fish's e3^es for? According to our pres- 
ent knowledge they are to enable him to become " a snap- 
per-up of unconsidered trifles " with hooks attached to 
them! 

Now, so far as the artificial fly is concerned, when it is 
cast lightly upon a fretted surface, I think it is generally 
taken by a fish under the impression that it is a natural 
insect; but with regard to trolls of all kinds, as spoons, 
squids, spinners, propellers, etc., and very often with re- 
gard to the artificial fly, I am of the opinion that they are 
taken through a spirit of mere bravado, curiosity or wan- 
tonness, and not with the idea that they are living objects 
of prey. They are seized by the fish because they are 
bright, attractive and in motion; not because they are 
hungry, but because they are in a biting mood, for we 
often find, nay, most always find, that fish so taken are 
already gorged with food. 

At a meeting of the Manchester Anglers' Association, in 
England, Dr. A. Hodgkinson gave an address on the 
" Optics of Angling," which is thus noticed by the " Lon- 
don Fishing Gazette :" 

" In considering the subject of angling: optics, we are met, as 
Dr. Hodgkinson pointed out, by the difficulty that we do not 



Sense of Sight. 99 

know exactly what the sight of fishes is, but we must assume it 
to be not much unlike our ow'Ji, and we are not without grounds 
for the assumption. By drawings on a blackboard, Dr. Hodg- 
kinson showed how the eyes of both men and fishes were alike in 
their main parts, the greatest divergence being that, whereas the 
optic nerve in man occupies only a small portion of the brain, in 
fishes it occupies pretty nearly the whole brain; and we may pre- 
sume, therefore, that the sight of fishes is more sensitive. 

" Dr. Hodgkinson then dwelt with the phenomena of the pas- 
sage of rays of light from the rare medium air to the dense me- 
dium water, and the change in direction that the incident ray 
undergoes; he pointed out the fact that under certain conditions 
an angler on the bank might be invisible to a fish in the stream, 
but the exultation of the gentlemen assembled was probably 
damped when they heard that, in order practically to discover 
the distance they must stand from the water in order to be invis- 
ible, they must take their height and multiply it by fourteen, 
which, as an unfortunate angler who was present pointed out, 
would require him, seeing that he is six feet high, to stand eighty- 
four feet from the water's edge before he could take advantage of 
the invisible mantle Dr. Hodgkinson had promised him. The 
case, however, is not quite so hopeless as this, for, as the doctor 
pointed out, the water in which the fly-fisher angles is not gener- 
ally so smooth as a mirror, and in ripple or broken water it is 
impossible for fish to see the object on two legs that may be on 
the bank. 

" In fishing for trout, wading in many streams is a necessity, 
and by means of an ingeniously constructed tank Dr. Hodgkinson 
showed not only what the angler looked like to the fish when he 
waded, but how his aspect was affected by the color of the bot- 
tom of the' river, and that of such cover as there might be on 
the bank. The rather startling announcement was made and 
demonstrated, that while the wader was duplicated so far as his 
legs were concerned, another pair appearing upside dowTi on the 
actual legs, the man's body, if visible at all, was far away from 
the legs, and overhead, where, if we put ourselves in the position 
of the fishes, we should expect to see nothing but sky. No fish 
then ever saw a wader with his two halves united, and whether 
its feeble brain can ever connect together the two distinct objects 



100 Book of the Black Bass. 

— the body up in the air and the legs down in the water — is ex- 
tremely doubtful. 

" The tank by which Dr. Hodgkinson was enabled to demon- 
strate his theories was made so that from one end the observer 
could, by directing his vision from various depths of water, al- 
ways look through a slip of glass placed at right angles to the 
point toward which he looked. In this way, and by use of a little 
figure to represent a man, the point where invisibility begins (four 
degrees) could be clearlj' seen, as well as the effect which the 
water has of apparently lifting the object much above the position 
which it occupies." 

Sense of Hearing. 

There is no external ear in fishes, the. internal ear alone 
existing, and which is extremely delicate in its construc- 
tion. 

Dr. John Hunter observed that it varied much in the 
different genera of fishes, but that in all it consisted of 
three curved tubes, which united one with another. The 
whole organ is composed of a kind of cartilaginous sub- 
stance, and in some fishes is crusted over with a thin 
lamella to keep it from collapsing. 

The canals terminate in a cavit}^, in which cavity there 
is a bone or bones. These ear-bones are familiar to most 
anglers, and are sometimes very beautiful, resembling 
porcelain, and are often called "brain-ivory;" those of 
the sheGY^shead ■ (Aplodinotus grunnicns) of our western 
waters are known as " lucky stones," and are highly prized 
by boys as pocket pieces. 

It is the rule among physiologists to say, that while fishes 
can hear sounds produced in the water, they are incapable 
of hearing those produced in the air, and even to limit their 
capacity for hearing accurately those produced in the water. 



Sense of Hearing. 101 

Take this, for example, from Mr. Hugh Owen, in '' Land 
and Water :'^ 

" It is exceedingly doubtful if fish possess the faculty of hear- 
ing, in the ordinary sense of the term. Mr. Buckland has ac- 
curately described the nature of the sensation they do possess, as 
vibration. There cannot be a doubt that fish have no possible 
conception of either vicinity, direction, or distance of the vibra- 
tory disturbances they receive. A distant vibration disturbs a 
shoal of fishes as much as a near one; and fish feeding eagerly 
at the bait will be alarmed and dispersed by the beat of a steam 
vessel a mile off. All the stories of fish coming to be fed at the 
sound of a bell or of a whistle are, of course, fables. Such 
sounds made in the air will not communicate vibrations to the 
fish beneath the surbace of the water. They assemble only be- 
cause they see a figure, and are accustomed to be fed upon such 
occasions." 

Ko angler or fisherman of experience and observation 
can be made to believe such specious and questionable state- 
ments as the above. He knows better. 

As fishes live in a denser medium than terrestrial ani- 
mals, and one that more readily transmits the waves of 
sound, we should naturally expect to find a corresponding 
difference in the construction of the organ of hearing. 
The internal ear of fishes differs only in degree, not -in kind, 
from that of the higher animals; the}^, of course, have no 
external ear, nor is one necessary in so dense a medium as 
water; but for this reason it is the fashion to say that 
they can only hear vibrations communicated through the 
medium of the water or the shore, the " vibrations " mean- 
ing considerable " jars " or " shocks." 

" The ear of fishes lies close under the roof of the skull, and 
is thus easily accessible to the waves of sound, which are con- 
ducted partly through the operculum (when present), and partly 
through the gill slits or spiracle. As we pass to the higher ani- 



102 Book of the Black Bass. 

mals, however, the auditory organ gradually sinks further and 
further inward from the surface. Thus a new method for eon- 
ducting the sound waves is necessitated." — ( Wiedersheim.) 

"Many Teleostei (true fishes) have fontanelles in the roof of 
the skull, closed by skin or very thin bone only at the place where 
the auditory organ approaches the surface, by which means 
sonorous undulations must be conducted with greater ease to the 
ear." — (Giinther.) 

'' In many Teleostei a most remarkable relation obtains be- 
tween the organ of hearing and the air-bladder. In the most 
simple form, this connection is established in percoids and the 
allied families, in which the two anterior horns of the air-bladder 
are attached to fontanelles of the occipital region of the skull." — 
(Gunther.) 

The air-bladder, in such eases, may, in a manner, per- 
form the functions of a tympanum. 

I append a few sensible remarks from an article by W. 
N. Lockington, in " Pacific Life :" 

" It appears to be not unlikely that fish take no notice of 
sounds produced in the air, but it is not so easy, unless we can 
argue the matter from a fish's point of view, to prove they do not 
hear those sounds. Take the sense of sight as an illustration of 
that of hearing. I have often amused myself by making believe 
to strike a monkey that lived in a cage with a glass front. Accus- 
tomed to such demonstrations, the monkey simply took no notice. 
His bright eyes never even winked. Arguing, as was argued in 
the fish case, I might say monkeys cannot see. 

" All fishes have an organ of hearing; not a rudimentary organ, 
but one complete in its kind, and differing from ours only in its 
degree of development; differing, in fact, much in the same way 
that the brain, the heart, the intestines, the skeleton, the skin, the 
limbs, or any other part of a fish differs from that of a quadruped 
or from our own. 

" The microphone has gone far toward proving what philoso- 
phers had previously become convinced of by deductive reasoning, 
that there is no motion without sound, and therefore that sound 
is present in numberless instances not evident to our senses. For 



Sense of Hearing. 103 

our perception of sound we are dependent upon our sense of hear- 
ing, which is adapted only to a certain range of spunds; and this 
range differs in human individuals, for we all know that some 
other persons hear sounds imperceptible to us. Still more is this 
true of other animals ; they may hear what we can not, yet be deaf 
to sounds audible to us. 

" Strict experiments upon the hearing of fishes have yet to be 
made. Most of the observations yet made are faulty, either be- 
cause, first, the observer has supposed that the fish ought, if it 
can hear, to notice a sound he makes for the purpose; or, second, 
he has argued, from the standpoint of his own senses, that if a 
fish hears, the range of its hearing must be nearly the same as 
his own. 

" To conclude : that fish have ears, is indisputable ; that they 
hear some sounds produced in the Avater, scarcelj^ admits of ques- 
tion; that they hear some sounds produced in the air, even 
though they may not take notice of them, is probable, but lacks 
(so far as I know) experimental proof; that they do not hear 
many sounds w^hich we hear, or at least do not discriminate be- 
tween sounds which we, with our more highly organized organs, 
readily distinguish, is almost certain. All of which ends in this, 
that fishes hear, but their senses differ in range and delicacy from 
ours." 

A remarkable instance, demonstrating the acuteness of 
the sense of hearing in fishes, occurred some years ago in 
California. As it is an exceedingly interesting and well- 
authenticated fact, and one so totally at variance with pre- 
conceived notions, I feel justified in reproducing it here. 
The account was published in the " San Francisco Chron- 
icle/' upon the authority of Mr. B. B. Eedding, then one 
of the Fish Commissioners of California : 

" In Siskiyou County there is a caravansary kept by George 
Campbell, and known as the Upper Soda Springs Hotel, which is 
situated on a semicircle of land formed by a bend in the Sacra- 
mento River. Wishing to have a supply of fresh trout close at 
hand, ]Mr. Campbell had a supply of water conducted through a 



104 Book of the Black Bass. 

board flume from the river to a natural depression in the ground, 
thereby creating an excellent fish pond of about half an acre in 
extent, which he supplied with full-grown trout caught in the 
river. The supply flume is, for some distance, raised about four 
feet above the ground. About four hundred feet from the pond, 
a small rivulet, which is an outlet for irrigating water, flows 
under the flume, crossing it at right angles and about four feet 
below it, and empties into the river. 

" The fall of water from the end of the flume to the surface of 
the pond is two feet, the water in the flume flowing with a velocity 
of three miles an hour. The pond has an outlet, which is screened 
to prevent the escape of the trout. Shortly after the pond was 
established, the discovery was made that numbers of fish were 
missing from it. Mr. Campbell instituted an investigation, which 
resulted in discovering that the fish, dissatisfied with their new 
quarters, had leaped through the waterfall two feet into the flume, 
and, swimming against the strong current until they reached 
where the stream crosses under the flume, they had leaped out of 
the latter to the stream four feet beneath. 

" Upon discovering the method of flight adopted by his finny 
acrobats, Mr. Campbell prevented further escape by placing a 
screen at the mouth of the flume. Up to last accounts the dis- 
satisfied fish had discovered no other method of getting into their 
favorite vSacramento. The questions immediately suggest them- 
selves: How could the fish know that a stream flowed under the 
flume, the sides of which were considerably above the surface of 
the water, and if they possessed that knowledge, how were they 
to know that they were immediately over it? Mr. Redding ex- 
amined the ground carefully along the flume, and could not dis- 
cover a single instance of a trout having jumped out at any other 
place." 

Mr. Redding subsequent^ communicated to the " Forest 
and Stream " the following solution of the matter : 

" The attention of Prof. E. D. Cope, the eminent naturalist, hav- 
ing been called to the above facts, he has given me an explanation 
which seems entirely satisfactory. He tells me that at the base of 
every scale of the trout, at a point Avhere the scale is united with 



Sense of Hearing. 105 

the skin, is a nerve; that all these nerves, from the base of every 
scale, lead to a large ganglion situated on the center of the fore- 
head of the fish below the eyes; and that nerves from this gang- 
lion communicate to the internal ear. These nerves, at the base 
of each scale, are formed to receive vibrations in water. Any 
vibration in water reaching the scales of the fish is thus communi- 
cated to the internal ear. If, as was the fact, one of the timbers 
that supported the flume rested in the running water on the 
ground, the vibrations of this running water on the ground 
would be carried by this timber to the flume and to the water in 
it, four feet above, and the ear of the fish would separate and take 
cognizance of the difference in the vibrations, as the human ear 
in the air distinguishes the difference between the voices of 
friends." 

As many fishes utter sounds, some so loud as to be heard 
in the air, it is reasonable to suppose that such sounds are 
heard by other fishes. Most fishes are capable of receiving 
impressions, through three sets of sense organs, viz., the 
ears, the skin, and the lateral line organs. Mr. H. G. 
Parker, after many experiments, has determined that " the 
skin is affected by surface waves and by currents; the 
lateral line organs by slight inaudible movements of the 
whole mass of water ; and the ears by the still more delicate 
vibrations of water particles, sound." 

Among the most intelligent investigations in this direc- 
tion in recent years have been the experiments just men- 
tioned, of Mr. H. G. Parker, Assistant Professor of 
Zoology, Harvard University, under the auspices of the 
U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, at its laboratory at Woods Hole, 
Mass., during the past year or two. He made many experi- 
ments dealing with the cutaneous nerves, the lateral organs 
and the auditory nerves, on such fishes as were most readily 
procured, principally with killifishes (Fundidus lietero- 
clitus). These experiments were not confined to fishes in 



106 Book of the Black Bass. 

aquaria, but to those in open water as well, and in refer- 
ence to the latter condition he says : 

" The sound, therefore, was as unrestricted as that which natu- 
rally reaches these fishes. On experimenting with normal fishes, 
fishes without ears, and those with insensitive skins, results were 
obtained essentially like those observed in the aquarium, and I 
therefore concluded that the restriction of the water in the 
equarium played no essential part in the results obtained from 
that apparatus. There is, thus, good reason to believe that 
Fundulus heteroclitus not only hears, but that for it hearing is 
a normal process." 

Mr. Parker means by "fishes without ears, and those 
with insensitive skins," fishes in which the cutaneous and 
auditory nerves were severed. His summary of the results 
of his experiments is as follows : 

" 1. Normal Fundulus heteroclitus reacts to the sound waves 
from a tuning fork of 128 vibrations per second by movements of 
the pectoral fins and by an increase in the respiratory rate. It 
probably also responds to sound waves by caudal-fin movements 
and by general locomotor movements. 

"2. Individuals in which the eighth (auditory) nerves have 
been cut do not respond to sound waves from the tuning-fork. 

" 3. The absence of responses to sound waves in individuals 
with severed eighth nerves is not due to the shock of the operation 
or to other secondary causes, but to the loss of the ear as a 
sense organ. 

" 4. Fundulus heteroclitus therefore possesses the sense of 
hearing. 

" 5. The ears in this species are also organs of prime impor- 
tance in equilibration. 

" 6. Normal Fundulus heteroclitus swims downward from the 
top of the water and remains near the bottom when the aquarium 
in which it is contained is given a slight noiseless motion. 

" 7. Individuals in which the nerves to the lateral-line organs 
have been cut will swim upward or remain at the top while the 
aquarium is being gently and noiselessly moved. 



Sense of Hearing. 107 

" 8. The lateral-line organs in this species are probably stimu- 
lated by a slight mass movement of the water against them. 
They are not stimulated by sound waves such as stimulate the 
ears. 

" 9. Individuals in which the nerves to the lateral-line organs 
have been cut swim doA\'nward and thus escape from regions of 
surface wave action. They also orient perfectly in swimming 
against a current. Since surface waves and current action stimu- 
late fishes in which the nerves to the lateral-line organs and to the 
ears have been cut, these motions must stimulate the general 
cutaneous nerves ( touch ) . 

" 10. The vibrations from a bass-viol string when transmitted 
to water stimulate the ears and the lateral-line organs of Fun- 
dulus. They also stimulate mackerel and menhaden, but not the 
smooth dogfish, which responds only when in contact with solid 
portions of an aquarium subjected to vibrations." * 

Since Mr. Parker's experiments were made, Dr. J. Zen- 
neck, of the Strassburg Physical Institute, has published 
in the Archiv fur Gesammte Physiologic, vol. 95, pages 
346-356, 1903, an article on the reactions of fish to sounds 
in the water, and has shown very conclusively that several 
species of minnows are very sensitive to sound, though he 
did not determine whether this sensitiveness resided in the 
skin (touch), or in the ear (hearing), or in both. The 
sound used was a protected electric bell under the water. 

It is conceded that fish can hear sounds or vibrations 
produced on, or in, the water, but that they can hear 
sounds produced in the air is doubted by many ; but every 
observant angler can recall instances where this doubt has 
been refuted. I remember, as a boy, that when swimming 
below the surface, I could hear the shouting of my com- 

* For the full account of Mr. Parker's interesting experiments 
the reader is referred to U. S. Fish Commission Bulletin for 1902, 
pages 45 to 64. Also to the American Naturalist, Vol. xxxvii, 
No. 435, 1903; and Science, new series, Vol. 17, page 243, 1903. 



108 Book of the Black Bass. 

panions, though faintly; while the striking of two stones 
together below the surface was heard more distinctly. 

It is well known to some, though doubted by many, that 
fish can be tamed and taught to come to the surface of the 
water to be fed, answering promjotly to the sounds of the 
voice, a bell, or a whistle. I have observed instances of this 
kind, myself, and under such circumstances as rendered it 
impossible for the fish to see the person producing the 
sounds mentioned. 

In a recent work on " British Fresh-Water Fishes,'' by 
Sir Herbert Maxwell, F. R. S., he mentions an incident in 
support of his belief that fishes can hear sounds produced 
in the air. One bright October day he was painting on 
the shore of Loch Ken, in Galloway. He noticed multi- 
tudes of small perch near the margin. Presently a shot 
was fired nearly a mile away. He says: 

" The report came clearly, because of the stillness of the air, 
but at that distance it could not be called loud; yet the shoal of 
fry instantly darted into the deeper water. In a little while 
they began to creep back towards the shore. Then came another 
shot; off again wont the fry; and so after every shot, repeating 
the performance for nw edification eight or nine times." 

I have observed fish exhibit symptoms of fright or alarm 
at the report of fire-arms, or other loud noises, and to be 
scared and dart away at the sound of the human voice, or 
the barking of a dog, when the fish could not see the origi- 
nators of the noises. 

Birds will remain quietly perched on a tree and seem to 
take no notice of the sound of the human voice, or of loud 
noises. It is vv^ell known to sportsmen that a covey of ruffed 
grouse, or mountain grouse, will remain perched one above 
another in a tree, while the gunner may shoot them, one 
after the other, by beginning with the lowest bird. 



Smell, Taste and Touch, 109 

Horses, cattle or sheep will continue to crop the grass of 
a pasture, apparently oblivious to all sounds, but will look 
up at the approach of a man or a dog. Even wild animals 
remain motionless at the report of a gun, or other noises, 
provided the author of the sounds is not seen. And yet, 
if a fish does not skurry away at similar sounds, it is taken 
as conclusive evidence that it does not hear them. 

It would truly seem, on reflection, that beasts and birds 
would be more likely to show symptoms of alarm at sounds 
produced in the medium in which they live, move and have 
their being, than fishes which inhabit another and denser 
medium, and consequently feel safe and secure from causes 
operating in the air. 

Senses of Smell, Taste and Touch. 

The olfactory organs of fishes, while being well developed, 
have no relation whatever with the function of respiration, 
as in air-breathing animals. Giinther says : " It is certain 
that fishes possess the faculty of perceiving odors, and that 
various scents attract or repel them." This fact has been 
patent to observant anglers since long before the time of 
honest Izaak Walton. 

It is evident that game-fishes, like the black bass, which 
resort' to mid-water and near the surface, depend almost 
entirely on the sense of sight in pursuit of their food, 
while bottom-feeding fishes rely on the senses of smell, taste 
or touch. The latter group of fishes have special nervous 
filaments ending in what are known to neurologists as ^^ ter- 
minal buds," located in the mouth and on the skin of the 
body ; also in the barbels, or " feelers," as in the catfishes, 
and in the detached fin rays of other fishes. These ter- 
minal huds seem to have the property or function of taste. 



110 Book of the Black Bass. 

being connected with the olfactory bulbs of the brain, and 
are necessary to such fishes in the procuring and detection 
of their food. 

Do Fishes Sleep. 

As fishes possess no eye-lids, the eyes, consequently, al- 
ways being open, the absurd question is often asked, " Do 
fish sleep ?" ' I say absurd, for it certainly seems so to 
imagine that fishes alone of all the animal creation do not 
sleep. That they sleep, and sleep every day is not to be 
doubted. They sleep very lightly, however, and are easily 
awakened by the slightest jar on the bank, or, as I believe, 
from sounds in the air of an unusual character. From my 
observations of fishes in the ponds of fish hatcheries, T 
think they sleep mostly during the middle hours of the 
day and night. 



Stocking Waters. Ill 

CHAPTER VIII. 

ON STOCKING WATERS WITH BLACK BASS. 

"And it is observed, that in some ponds carps will not breed, 
especially in cold ponds; but where they will breed, they breed 
innumerably." — Izaak Walton. 

The black bass is peculiarly adapted, in every respect, 
for stocking inland waters. There is no fish that will 
give more abundant and satisfactory returns, and none in 
which the labor and expense attending its introduction is 
so slight. 

As a food fish, there are very few, if any, more palatable 
fresh-water fishes, its flesh being firm, white, and flaky, and 
when cooked, nutty, tender, and juicy; it has few bones 
and little offal, and as a pan-fish is unexcelled. Its game 
qualities are second to none, and it will thrive and mul- 
tiply in Avaters where the trouts can not exist. 

There are few fish more prolific, w^hile there is none 
more hardy, healthy, and better able to take care of itself, 
and none that protects or cares more tenderly for its 3^oung ; 
consequently, there is no limit to its production and in- 
crease in suitable waters, save from a lack of natural food. 

In view, then, of its many good qualities, there is no 
fish more worthy of cultivation; none that can be so easily 
transplanted, and none that is so well adapted to the vari- 
ous waters of our country, for there is no game-fish that 
has such an extensive original habitat. 

Every attempt that has been made, intelligently, to stock 
suitable waters with the black bass, has been crowned with 
signal success, which, unfortunately, has not been the case 



H2 Book of the Black Bass. 

with the introduction of other game- and food-fishes. The 
praiseworthy efforts that have hitherto been made to re- 
populate streams formerly inhabited by salmon or brook 
trout, have either totally failed, or the results, in a ma- 
jority of instances, have not been at all satisfactory; nor 
does it seem, now, as though these efforts will ever prove 
successful, owing to causes which I have mentioned else- 
where. 

Streams which are necessarily obstructed by dams, even 
when the most approved fishways are provided, or whose 
waters are polluted by the refuse of manufactories, can 
never be successfully stocked with the salmonids; but the 
black bass seems to thrive fairly well in spite of these and 
other disadvantages. 

From wdiat has been said in regard to their habits, it 
will readily be seen that there is no necessity for hatching 
black bass artificially, in the manner practiced with the 
salmon, trout, or shad, nor would the method be as suc- 
cessful, for reasons well known to fish culturists. 

The Sahnonidcc of the eastern United States, with the 
exception of the grayling, prepare their beds and deposit 
their spawn late in the fall, or early winter. This being 
accomplished, all further interest in the procreation of their 
species, for the time, ceases; the eggs are left to them- 
selves, and such as escape being devoured by their nu- 
merous enemies are hatched in from two to four months, 
according to species and temperature of water. The 
young are provided with a yolk-sac, which nourishes them 
for a period of from twenty-five to forty-five days, varying 
with the species, when they begin to look for other means 
of subsistence. 

During all this time, from spawning until the absorption 
of the yolk-sac, from three to six months as the case may 



Stocking Waters. 113 

be, the eggs and young are helplessly exposed to the ravages 
of predatory fish, reptiles, and birds. Under these circnm- 
stances comparatively few fish arrive at maturity, and 
streams are soon depopulated by seining, unlawful fishing 
and natural vicissitudes ; hence arises the necessity for their 
artificial cultivation and the re-stocking of such waters. 

The eggs of the salmonids are of a separate and non- 
adhesive character, which admits of their being easily 
handled and managed for the purposes of artificial repro- 
duction, while those of the black bass are glutinous and 
adhesive, which renders them very difficult to manipulate 
for similar purposes. 

The black bass being hatched with but a rudimentary 
or very small umbilical vesicle or 3'olk-sac, needs the foster- 
ing care and attention of the parent fish, who teaches it 
how and where to find its food, and protects it from its 
enemies in the same way that a hen cares for her brood. 

All that is required, then, to stock a stream or pond 
with black bass, is to procure a small number of the fish, 
at least a 3'ear old, and place them in the waters. If the 
water is of a suitable character, and possesses a sufficient 
supply of natural food, the bass will propagate naturally, 
and rapidly increase in numbers. 

The only considerations to be looked after are the char- 
acter and conditions of the waters to be stocked — suffi- 
cient depth and extent of surface being more important 
than quality of water — and the supply of food contained 
in them. It is useless to attempt to stock very small and 
confined ponds of less than three acres in extent ; for in such 
ponds, without communication with running water, the bass 
will not increase beyond a certain limited number, which 
will usually be the number of fish originally planted. The 
supply of natural food in such cases will soon become 



114 Book of the Black Bass. 

exhausted, and the old fish will prey upon the young, should 
any be hatched, until a certain average, proportionate to 
the supply of food, is established and maintained. 

In the case of newly formed ponds, they should be well 
stocked with minnows, Crustacea, frogs, etc., ajt least a year 
before the bass are introduced. It is also necessary that 
there should be in all ponds, holes of not less than twelve 
feet in depth, to which the bass can retire in very hot 
weather, and where they can also hibernate. 

In some waters, one species of black bass may prosper 
better than the other ; for instance, in large ponds or shal- 
low lakes, with a sluggish current, muddy bottom, and 
abounding in fresh-water algae, the large-mouth bass will 
thrive better than the small-mouth species. But in 
streams, and ponds with a good supply of running water, 
either, or both species may be introduced. 

The black bass has been successfully transported to Eng- 
land. Mr. Silk, fish-culturist to the Marquis of Exeter, 
has taken over two lots of young small-mouth bass from the 
Delaware Eiver, the first in 1878, and the second in 1879. 
In a letter to the late Frank Buckland, Mr. Silk says : 

"In 1879 I went again, and started from America with 1,200 
black bass, and on arriving home I had 812, having done better 
than I did on the previous occasion. All of the black bass were 
for the Marquis of Exeter, he having borne all tlie expense of the 
experiment. Most of the fish were placed in a lake belonging to 
his lordship, called Whitewater, near Stamford. Not any of them 
have been caught yet, but two of them were found dead in a pipe, 
where they had got jammed. The pipe supplied a filterer. and 
they had got in and could not get out again. From what I 
could learn they would be about half a pound each in weight, so 
that they had done very well. The first lot that were put in will 
be three years old in April, when they are expected to commence 
breeding." 



Stocking Waters. 115 

In transporting black bass for the purpose of stocking 
new waters, great foresight, care, and judgment must be 
used. The size and number of the fish, the distance they 
are to be carried, and the length of time to be consumed 
in the journey, must all be taken into consideration. The 
size and number of the fish will determine the size and 
number of the containers ; thus, while a common wash-tub 
would be a safe receptacle to transport twenty-five bass, six 
inches in length, for a long distance, it would not be suffi- 
cient for half the number of double the size, for it would 
require a vessel that would contain at least one and a half 
times the quantity of water. This is a safe rule to follow, 
and calculations can be made accordingly. 

For small fish, six to eight inches long, the largest size 
wash-tubs are well adapted, but for larger fish the carrier 
must be much deeper. If barrels are used they need not be 
perfectly new, but they should not retain any vestige of 
their former contents, as vinegar, oil, whisky, etc. The 
best ones would be those that had been used to hold water 
for a long time. Wooden tanks, constructed for the pur- 
pose, will answer, provided they have been soaked in run- 
ning water a sufficient length of time to take up and re- 
move all the soluble matter of the wood, as tannic acid, 
etc. Metal tanks,- constructed of galvanized iron, heavy 
tin, etc., though more expensive, are to be preferred, but 
they must be rendered perfectly clean before the fish are 
put into them. 

If the number of fish to be carried is large, it is much 
better to provide a sufficient number of containers than to 
crowd the fish. Except in railroad cars especially con- 
structed for the purpose, there is no good plan yet devised 
for aerating water, while in transit, by forcing air into it, 
for most of it escapes at once as the numerous bubbles that 



116 Book: of the Black Bass. 

appear on the surface testify. The better way is to expose 
the water to the air in finely divided particles, in the form 
of spray or small drops, as by forcing or pouring it 
through a fine rose. I have seen it successfully accom- 
plished by dipping the water out of the container with a 
common sprinkling-can, or watering-pot, and pouring it 
back again through the rose, or sprinkler, from a con- 
siderable height; this is as simple arid effectual a way as 
any yet devised. 

It is a bad plan to change the water frequently, as is 
often done, for the change in the character and temper- 
ature of the water thus produced, affects the fish un- 
favorably. The best plan, by far, is to aerate the original 
water. If in warm weather, the temperature of the water 
should be noted, occasionally, and kept at its original tem- 
perature, or a little lower, by the addition of small pieces 
of ice from time to time. 

These instructions are only general, and must be varied 
to suit particular circumstances. Sometimes, for short 
distances, double the number of fish may be safely carried, 
in the space I have designated. Moreover, it is possible 
to be too attentive, and kill the fish with kindness. If the 
number of fish to be transported is large enough to justify 
the experiment, the best and safest plan would be to carry 
one vessel, with its allotted number, first, and, according 
to the operator's best judgment; then, as the experiment 
proved successful, or not, would depend the transportation 
of the balance, on the same, or some other plan of pro- 
ceeding. 

A lake belonging to the South Fork Fishing and Hunt- 
ing Club, of Pittsburg, Pa., was successfully stocked with 
adult black bass in June, 1881. The transportation of 
six hundred and sixty bass from Sandusky, Ohio, to the 



Stocking Waters. 117 

lake, ninety miles east of Pittsburg, was carried out very 
successfully under the direction of Mr. W. A. Mcintosh, 
vice-president of the club. 

The fish were placed in fifteen oak casks, three feet high, 
and three feet in diameter, and five galvanized iron tanks, 
five' feet high, and three feet in diameter. The water was 
kept at the proper temperature by adding ice occasionally, 
and aerated by means of a large air-pump and fifty feet of 
one-inch rubber hose, at one end of which was a series of 
perforated tin tubes. A large tin tube also ran along above 
the casks, with a small dependent tube ending in a sprink- 
ler leading to the top of each cask, into which water was 
poured and entered the casks in a fine spray. 

The bass weighed from three-fourths of a pound to two 
and one-half pounds, averaging one and a half pounds 
each. The females were heavy with spawn, as the season 
was backward. They were on the road, from Sandusky to 
the lake, some thirty hours, with a loss of only sixty fish, 
or ten per cent. The bass prospered well in the lake, as 
myriads of young bass, six or eight inches long, were per- 
ceived the following year. 

They multiplied rapidly for several years, ajffording fine 
fishing for the members of the club and their friends. 
Eventuall}^, however, the dam inclosing the lake gave way 
under the pressure of a great flood, and the appalling 
disaster at Johnstown was the result. 

Not only in our own country have new waters been suc- 
cessfully stocked with both species of black bass, but they 
have been transplanted to England, as mentioned, also to 
Scotland, Germany and the Netherlands. 

A later notice of those taken to England is as follows : 

" Of twelve hundred black bass brought from the United States 
by Mr. W. T. Silk, one hundred and forty were placed in the 



118 Book of the Black Bass. 

river Nene. They were from four to seven inches in length. 
The river has a number of small backwaters, with swift currents 
and gravelly bottoms, and also deep, quiet holes. Fishing will be 
prohibited for some years, until the fish are well established. I 
think the Nene and the Welland are the only rivers in England 
where the bass have been put; but they are in several lakes." — 
{London Fishing Gazette, December 1, 1883.) 

I assisted llerr A^on dcm Borne with such information 
as subsequently enabled him to successfully cultivate the 
black bass in Germany. The following is the account of 
his first installment. 

" Of the seven large-mouth, and forty-five small-mouth bass 
which Mr. Eckardt, Jr., brought from America in February, 1883, 
the greater number died, probably in consequence of the long 
journey, so that this spring there remained only three of the 
former and ten of the latter, which I placed in two ponds, sup- 
plied with gravel beds for spawning.' — (Max Von dem Borne, 
Circular No. 4, 1884, German Fishery Association, Berlin, June, 
1884.) 

The ponds of Yon dem Borne, alluded to above, are 
located at Berneuchen, Germany. On June lb, 1884, he 
wrote : 

"To-day I had the satisfaction of finding that the three large 
fish had spawned, and the pond actually swarms with fry. I 
have caught with a small net more than two tliousand, and have 
put them into another pond which is free from other fish. I have 
no doubt that next spring the small-mouth bass will spawn, and 
that the experiment will be successful." — (Bull. V. S. Fish. Com., 
IV, 1884, 219.) 

In June, 1885, he said: 

"My thirteen black bass have spawned. I have caught 11,800 
of the fry, and placed them in ponds that have no other fish." 



Stocking Waters. 119 

In August, 1885, he wrote : 

. " I am pleased to say that the fish multiplied abundantly. I 
had 1,200 in the fall of 1884, and have caught more than 22,000 
fry this season." 

Count A^on clem Borne raised more black bass, of both 
species, than he could take care of, and shipped them to 
other parts of Europe. In 188(3, he published a small 
treatise : '' Der Schwartzbarsch und der Forrellenbarsch " 
(The Black Bass and the Trout Bass), and a larger edition 
in 1888. Until he died he was very enthusiastic in regard 
to the black bass as a game-fish and food-fish. 

In March, 1885, Mr. Eugene G. Blackford, of New 
York, sent five young black bass to the Zoological Garden 
at Amsterdam, where they arrived in excellent condition. 
In December, 1885, the " Journal of the Society for the 
Promotion of the Fresh-water Fisheries in the Nether- 
lands,'' says : 

" The Amsterdam Aquarium at present possesses four fine 
specimens of black bass, which grow well, and will, in all prob- 
ability, reach sexual maturity." 

In April, 1882, Mr. Geo. Shepard Page took a small lot 
of black bass, comprising both species, on the steamer 
Spain, from Xew York to Liverpool. ■ Six of the fish were 
supplied by Mr. Eugene G. Blackford, of New York, and 
twelve young and five adult fish were supplied by Professor 
Spencer F. Baird, IJ. S. Fish Commissioner. Two of the 
adult bass died before reaching Liverpool. The balance 
were safely transported to Golspie, Sutherland, in Scot- 
land, and placed in a loch belonging to the Duke of Suther- 
land. 

I wish to add a word in this connection to a paper of 



120 Book of the Black Bass. 

mine read before the American Fisheries Society, in refer- 
ence to objections urged against the introduction of black 
bass into eastern waters, upon the theory that the presence 
of the " voracious '^ bass would militate against the in- 
crease of shad, trout or salmon. The objections are not 
valid, or founded on fact, for the black bass prefers a diet 
of crawfish, when he can get it, varying it with minnows, 
insects, larvaB, and frogs, and in eastern waters he would 
not object to young eels. Pike, pickerel, pike-perch, and 
gar-fish, are almost entirely piscivorous in their ha])its, 
which might be expected from the character of their teeth, 
which are separate, sharp and conical, and their sins have 
no doubt been charged to the black bass. But, while the 
bass will take in a young shad or salmon if it comes his 
way when hungry, he will not make them special objects 
of pursuit, like the canine-teethed fishes above named. 

The failure to restock such streams, if any such failure 
exists, must be attributed to other causes tlian the intro- 
duction of the black bass, prominent among which is the 
unrelenting pursuit of the young fry by the predatory 
fishes mentioned. They are only exceeded in their destruc- 
tiveness by the genus Homo, with his miles of gill-nets at 
the mouths of the streams, to prevent the return of the 
shad or salmon during the breeding season; and should 
a few run the gauntlet and succeed in depositing their 
spawn in the upper reaches of the rivers, the eels, bull- 
heads and suckers take good care of it. 

In western waters where the black bass exists with the 
usual varieties of fishes, there is no perceptible decrease in 
the numbers of either. If any species suffers it is always 
the black bass on account of over-fishing, spearing, etc. I 
know of isolated lakes in Wisconsin where the black bass 
has co-existed with the cisco (one of the salmon family), 



Stocking Waters. 121 

longer than the memory of man runneth to the contrary, 
without a decrease of the latter fish. If then the bass can 
not " get away with " the cisco in confined waters, how 
can he " clean out " the shad or salmon in large flowing 
streams? Moreover, I know of a small stream in Wiscon- 
sin that abounded in black bass and crawfish, into which 
brook-trout were introduced to the discomfiture of the 
former fish, for the trout increased while the numbers of 
Ihe bass grew smaller by degrees and beautifully less. 
I also know of lakes in Canada that have always been in- 
habited by both brook trout and large-mouth black bass, 
with no detriment to the former fish. And, furthermore, 
the black bass will not eat the spawn of his mate, nor 
that of his fellows' mates. His natural food is the craw- 
fish and the minnow ; he prefers them, and they are easily 
procured. On them he will wax and grow fat, increase and 
multiply. The man who alleges that he depopulates the 
streams of valuable food fishes, or asserts that he "kills 
for the love of it," has never looked into the mouth of the 
bass with his eyes open, for its teeth on both jaws are 
brush-like, incapable of wounding — forming merely a pair 
of broad, rough forceps for holding its prey securely. 

If, then, there are waters in which the brook-trout or the 
rainbow-trout will not thrive, there need be no hesitation 
to aid in the further distribution of the black bass by in- 
troducing that desirable species. It is easily done, and 
success is already assured. It is only necessary to look 
to the Potomac, the Susquehanna, the Delaware and many 
other streams for evidence of its rapid increase in new 
waters. 



PART II. 



TOOLS, TACKLE AND IMPLEMENTS. 



£LJ^- 




VENUS AND CUPID FISHING. 

From a copy of a wall painting at Pompeii in possession 
of R. B. Marston, Esq., Editor of the Fishing Gazette, 
London, England. 



Fishing Eods. 127 



CHAPTER IX. 

FISHING RODS. 

"And now, scholar! I think it will be time to repair to our 
angle-rods." — Izaak Walton. 

The first and most important article in tlie angler's 
outfit is the rod; it talves precedence of every other tool or 
implement in his armamentarium. A thoroughly good and 
well-balanced rod is the angler's especial joy and pride. 
A true and tried rod of graceful proportions and known 
excellence, which has been the faithful companion on 
many a jaunt by mountain stream, brawling river, or quiet 
lake, and has taken its part, and shared the victory in 
many a struggle wdth the game beauties of the waters, at 
last comes to be looked upon as a tried and trusty friend, 
in which the angler rej^oses the utmost confidence and reli- 
ance, and which he regards with a love and affection that 
he bestows upon no other inanimate object. 

I doubt if rifle, shot-gun, or fowling-piece ever becomes 
so dear and near to the sportsman as the rod to the angler, 
for the rod really becomes a part of himself, as it were, 
through which he feels every motion of the fish when 
hooked, and which, being in a measure under the control 
of his will, and responsive to the slightest motion of his 
wrist, seems to be imbued with an intelligence almost life- 
like. 

The essential qualities of a fishing rod, are balance^ 
strength, elasticity, pliancy, and lightness, and in its con- 
struction such a wood, or combination of woods, must be 
used as will best subserve these conditions. The natural 
cane, or reed pole, when it is of good and true taper, is 



128 Book of the Black Bass. 

the primitive model for a fishing rod, but it is not adapted 
to all kinds of angling, being too long for one mode, too 
stiff for another, and not well balanced for a third. 

The nearest approach to a perfect rod, in theory, and 
composed entirely and alone of any one variety of wood 
is a red cedar rod, made entirely of one piece from butt to 
tip. It combines all of the essential qualities of a fishing 
rod, and can be made suitable for any method of angling — 
long or short, stiff or pliant, and withal, is extremely light ; 
but in practice it is not tough or strong enough for the 
ordinary angler. And so each and every kind of wood has 
some objections when used, alone, in the construction of a 
rod; most kinds of wood being too heavy, when other 
qualities are all right. 

The next best thing is to use a combination of woods, 
and this plan has been found by experience to be the best. 
Another plan is to alter the natural conditions of a wood 
by mechanical skill, as in the split-bamboo rod, by which 
the original natural good qualities are not only preserved, 
but improved upon by the skill of the workman. 

MATEFilAL FOR EODS. 

In order to get proper and desired action of combined 
woods, and for convenience, portability, and ease of being 
repaired, rods are very properly made in several pieces, or 
joints. The fewer pieces used, however, the better will be 
the action of the rod, and, in fact, two, or at most, three 
pieces, are sufficient for all kinds of rods except salmon 
rods, which are of a necessity the longest rods made. 

In the selection of woods for a rod, such kinds must be 
used as possess the principal attributes of a fishing rod, 
which are toughness and elasticity ; and when these quali- 
ties are combined with lightness, there is nothing more to 



FiSHIXG EODS 129 

be desired, for proper modeling will insure perfect balance 
and pliancy. 

Many kinds of native and foreign woods have been tried 
and experimented with to produce a rod perfect in action, 
such as cane, ash, hickory, maple, basswood, ironwood, 
hornbeam, cedar, barberry, bamboo, memel, lancewood, 
mahoe, greenheart, bethabara, noib, snakewood, dagama, 
service-berry, etc. For black bass rods, however, both for 
fly and bait, it has been found that split-bamboo, ash, 
lancewood, bethabara, and greenlieart are the most suitable 
woods. 

Ash. — For butts of rods there is no wood so suitable 
as good, close-grained, second-growth white ash. It is 
straight-grained, light, springy, and strong, and in some 
kinds of rods it is also available for second pieces or joints, 
having a springy " snap " possessed by no other wood. 

Lancewood. — For second pieces and tips, lancewood, 
when of good quality, stands pre-eminent, being close- 
grained, tough, and extremely elastic, with sufficient re- 
siliency for small joints. It is used for tops, or tips, more 
universally than any other wood, on account of its superi- 
ority over all other varieties for this purpose. It is rather 
heavy for butts, though often used for this purpose, some 
fly-rods being constructed entirely of this fine wood, mak- 
ing very durable and beautiful rods, with a good action, 
but still rather heavy for most anglers. 

Greenheaet is next to lancewood for tips, and for sec- 
ond joints is preferred by many ; it is somewhat heavy, and 
quite tough and springy. Many rods are made entirely of 
Ihis wood, and are excellent, too, by the way, but rather 
heavy for the admirers of light rods. It certainly forms 
a handsome rod, when nicely polished, and is capable of 
good and hard service. In England it is a favorite wood 
9 



130 Book of the Black Bass. 

for fly-rods, where, as a rule, much heavier rods are used 
than in our own country. 

Bethabara. — This wood was, I believe, introduced 
several years ago by A. B. Shipley & Son, of Philadelphia, 
who made a specialty of rods of this handsome material. 
It is very dark in color, resembling, somewhat, black- 
walnut. It is very hard and close-grained, almost like 
bone in density, though it is rather heavy, except for second 
pieces and tips. Few woods can equal it for strength, 
toughness, and resiliency. It is susceptible of a beautiful 
polish, and I know of no other wood that makes so hand- 
some a rod in its natural color. 

Cane^ or Reed. — Native and foreign cane poles are 
much used for iisliing rods, especially in certain kinds of 
angling where no reel is required, and for such service 
answer a good purpose. The native canes are the lightest, 
though not so strong and durable as the Chinese or Jap- 
anese canes. 

Calcutta Bamboo. — The East Indian, or, as it is gen- 
erally termed, the Calcutta bamboo, is the best of all mate- 
rial for tlie construction of a perfect rod when carefully 
made by a skillful and master workman. In its natural 
state it possesses many of the desired qualities for certain 
modes of angling, but for methods that require a shorter 
and lighter, or more pliant rod, these additional features 
can be secured by altering the original conditions of the 
cane, by sawing the outer, or cortical siliceous, layer into 
triangular strips and accurately fitting and gluing them 
together; thus reducing the caliter, and, at the same time, 
preserving and enhancing all the essential and desirable 
qualities in a more compact form. 

There are two kinds of Calcutta bamboo, known to the 
trade as '' male " and " female " canes. The former is 



Fishing Eods. 131 

nearly solid, hard, and very tough, with large and pro- 
tuberant knots or joints, where, when growing, are attached 
the leaves and tendril-like branches, which are so tough as 
to render it necessary to burn them off ; this, and the appli- 
cation of red-hot iron to straighten them, gives to these 
canes the peculiar clouded and burnt appearance which 
adds so much to the beauty of the split-bamboo rod. The 
female cane is hollow through its entire length, except just 
at the joints or bulges, which are not so prominent as in 
the male cane. The male cane is the best to use in its 
natural state, but for split-bamboo rods the selected female 
cane is to be preferred as it makes the most perfect rod. 

There has been very marked improvement in the manu- 
facture of fishing rods during the past twenty years. More 
attention has been paid to the demands of the angler 
by the manufacturers, who have, consequently, exercised 
greater skill and intelligence in supplying tools better 
adapted to his needs and requirements. This has resulted 
in shorter, lighter, and better-balanced rods, and of much 
better material and workmanship than was formerly ac- 
corded to this branch of the arts. 

It is a source of great pleasure and satisfaction to the 
angler of the present day to note the march of improve- 
ment in the manufacture of fine fishing tackle, and to 
observe the commendable enterprise manifested by the 
manufacturers in producing light, elegant, and suitable 
implements of the craft. Indeed, the skill, study, inge- 
nuity and good taste employed in this industry is scarcely 
excelled in any other; all of which is highly gratifying, 
for it would seem to imply that the love and practice of 
angling has taken deep root, and that fine fishing and scien- 
tific angling are in a healthy state of growth and devel- 
opment. 



132 Book of the Black Bass. 

The first radical departure in the manufacture of fishing 
rods was the introduction of the " Henshall rod '' for black 
bass bait-fishing, more than a quarter of a, century ago. 
After its superiority to old style long and heavy rods was 
demonstrated, it became an easy matter to apply the same 
principles to all other rods. 

Perhaps it would be too egotistic to say that this short- 
ening and lightening of rofs in general was induced, alto- 
gether, by the introduction of the Henshall black bass rod, 
but I am assured by some of the most candid rod manu- 
facturers, and l)y many anglers, that this result is in a 
great measure to be attributed directly to the superior 
excellence of this short, light, and elegant rod, and to the 
fact that it subserves all the purposes, and promotes the 
pleasures of black bass angling in a much greater degree 
than the old-fashioned long and heavy rods. I am very 
much gratified ta think that this may be the case. 

One of the largest manufacturers of fishing rods in the 
world has this to say: 

" More tlian twenty years ago Dr. James A. Henshall, an au- 
thority on black bass, and at present an attache of the United 
States Department of Fisheries, declared that the black bass would 
eventually become the leading game fish of America; also that the 
invention of the necessary tackle would place such fishing in the 
very forefront of angling effort. At that time the statement im- 
pressed most sportsmen as a very rash prediction; for no indica- 
tions of such an outcome were visible to them. Thus, as so 
frequently happens, the prophecy was looked upon as the mere 
fancy of an enthusiast. 

But time, that demonstrator of all propositions, evidently en- 
listed on the side of Dr. Henshall, so that to-day we marvel at 
the accuracy of the forecast. At that time, tackle designed es- 
pecially for black bass was scarcely known, whereas to-day it 
forms a large portion of the entire amount made in this country. 
Naturally the one who foresaw the tide of events, and who was 



Fishing Rods. 133 

an authority on such fish, would be best equipped to furnish 
specifications for the most desirable rods." 

Split-Bamboo Rods. 

A iirst-class split-bamboo rod is the ultima thule of rod 
making. In its construction great care and skill are exer- 
cised. The material is carefully selected by an expert, as 
the several sections for a joint must be perfect and of the 
same weight and bond, in order to secure homogeneity and 
perfect action. This requires technical skill and intelli- 
gence of a high order. But the cheap and shoddy kind 
sold in department stores is made of refuse cane by un- 
skilled labor, and is sold at a small advance on the cost of 
production. A hard wood rod at thrice the price is in- 
finitely better. 

I consider the split-bamboo rod to be the greatest inven- 
tion ever made pertaining to the art of angling, equaling 
the invention of the breech-loading rifle and shot-gun for 
field sports. 

The history of the " split-bamboo," " section-bamboo," 
or, as it is sometimes called, the " rent and glued bamboo " 
rod, although of comparatively recent origin, dating back 
only some sixty years, is somewhat obscure. Several per- 
sons have laid claim to the invention, though with what 
justice it has, heretofore, never been clearly determined. 

There is, perhaps, no important mechanical invention 
that has, in its inception and principle, sprung entirely 
and spontaneously from the brain of any single individual ; 
and this will apply to the split-bamboo rod as well, for 
though purely an American invention, as now constructed, 
the idea, or principle, is really of English origin. Rods 
formed of several pieces of hard wood, that is, from two to 
three longitudinal sections mitred and s^lued tos^ether, were 



134 Book of the Black Bass. 

made in England many years ago ; and Aldred, of London, 
made rod tips, or, as they are called in England, " tops," 
of split-bamboo, before the split-bamboo rod, proper, was 
made in this country. Aldred's tops, however, were neces- 
sarily a failure from the faulty method of their construc- 
tion. He made them of many short pieces sawn from 
between the knots, or leaf-ridges, of the male cane, and 
spliced, to form continuous lengths. So much for the 
original idea. 

It is not my province, nor desire, to detract one iota 
from the credit or just due of any one in this matter, but 
rather to render unto Ctesar those things thnt belong to 
CnBsar. In the following pages I will present only such 
evidence as is entirely trustworthy, having been obtained 
from authentic sources, and put it on record here as relia- 
ble data in regard to the early history of the American 
split-bamboo rod; and in so doing 1 hope to do justice to 
an obscure, but worthy brother of the angle. 

The following amplified account of the invention of the 
split-bamboo rod I contributed to the " Onting" magazine 
for May, 1902. As a matter of record I reproduce it here: 

Origin of the Sflit-Bamboo Eod. 

In an admirable and comprehensive article on " Salmon 
Fishing " in " Scribner's Magazine " for October, 187G, 
Dr. A. G. Wilkinson, of the Patent Office, Washington, 
D. C, gives, so far as I know, the first history of the split- 
bamboo rod and its method of construction. Incidentally 
he says: 

"Twenty-five years ago (1851) a London firm made split- 
hainboo rods, putting the enamel inside. * * * Mr. Phillippe, 
living at Easton, Pa., conceived the idea, in 1866, of putting the 
enamel upon the outside, where it would do the most good. Next, 



FiSHixG Rods. 



135 



Mr. Green and Mr. Murphy put their heads together, and made 
rods of this sort of four strands, and finally the old and well- 
known firm of A. Clerk & Co., New York, introduced into the 
market the Leonard rod of six and twelve strands, and have since 
been supplying Europeans with all they get of this article." 

In 1881, in my " Book of the Black Bass/' I gave a brief 
history of the origin of tlie split-bamboo rod as made in the 
United States, giving credit for the invention to Samuel 




Mr. Samuel Phillippe. 



Phillippe, of Easton, Pa., and the date of his first rods 
as early as 1818. The proofs that I produced were com- 
plete and authentic enough to establish the claim for Phil- 
lippe as the inventor of the split-bamboo rod in America, 
and certainly as the first in the world to make a four- 
section rod. Those made in England about that time, 
and exhibited at the first World's Fair at the Crystal Pal- 
ace in London, in 1851, were all three-section rods; that is, 



136 Book of the Black Bass. 

three triangular strips^, or sections, either with tlie enamel 
inside or oatside. These were known as " rent and glued- 
"up " bamboo rods, and were shown by several makers.* 

Mr. William Mitchell, of Xew York, an excellent and 
well-known rod maker, in an article on the split-bamboo 
rod in the "American Angler," says : 

" Mr. Wilkinson gives the year 1866 as the one in which Mr. 
Phillippe, a gunmaker of Easton, Pa., made a glued-iip split- 
bamboo rod in three sections, or parts of one. He was followed by 
]\Ir. Green and Mr. Murphy. 

" Dr. Henshall, in his ' Book of the Black Bass,' gives the date 
of the first split-bamboo rod made in this country', by Samuel 
Phillippe, as about 1848; but all dates are from memory, and I 
believe the date given by Mr. Wilkinson is the nearer approach to 
the correct one. Mr. Phillippe never made a complete rod of split- 
bamboo, only a tip and joint to a three-piece rod, the butt of ash, 
and the joint and tip made in three sections. 

" Mr. Murphy, of Newark, N. J., in an article by Mr. B. Phil- 
lips, on the origin of the split-bamboo, published in the New York 
" Times," gives the date as 1848, when Mr. Phillippe used the 
natural bamboo, and subsequently made a joint of bamboo." 

Satisfied that there was some error or mistake concern- 
ing the date, 186G, as given by Dr. Wilkinson, I afterward 
wrote to him on this point, when he replied as follows: 

"You are certainly all right on the split-bamboo question. 
Mitchell gives the date of Murphy's rods as 1863, and Murphy 
concedes priority to Phillippe, and the latter's date is 1846. At 
the time of writing I could not fix Murphy's exact date. I am now 

*[As late as 1870, in Bolm's edition of Walton's Complete 
Angler, edited by Jesse, Mr. Bohn says in a footnote : " The split- 
cane or glued-up rod is difficult to make well, and very expensive ; 
it is made of three pieces of split cane (which some say should 
have the bark inside, some outside), and is said to have the 
advantage of not warping through wet."] 



Fishing Eods. 137 

clearly of the opinion that Phillippe's son carelessly wrote 1866 in 
place of 1846, and in fact I remember perfectly well that his 
figures were pretty difficult to decipher." 

In order to confirm and substantiate the claim I made 
for Phillippe, I subsequent!}^ corresponded with several of 
his old fishing companions and friends, citizens of Easton, 
Pa., with the result that I am now able to fix the date of 
his first rods as early as 1845. 

At the World's Columbian Exposition, at Chicago, in 
1893, 1 exhibited in my department an oil portrait of Sam- 
uel Phillippe, together with several of his rods, one of 
which is now in my possession. It is one of his first rods, 
and is still in as good practical condition as when first 
made. It is a trout fly rod, 11 feet 1 inches in length, 
and weighs exactly 8 ounces. It is a perfectly propor- 
tioned rod, as the following diameters show : Greatest 
swell of butt, 1 inch; inside diameter of first ferrule, 
5-16ths of an inch; of second ferrule, 3-lGths of an inch; 
of extreme tip, 3-32ds of an inch. Length of reel seat. 
3 J inches; diameter, ll-16ths of an inch. Length of butt 
handle, from reel seat to end. 10 inches, including the 
iron thimble at end. If the end of butt was shortened, 
as in modern rods, the weight would be reduced at least 
1^ ounces. It is made of four sections of bamboo, except 
the butt, which is of stained ash, and is neatly wrapped 
with black silk on the bamboo joints. The ferrules and 
reel bands are brass. 

The other rods exhibited were of four and six sections or 
strips throughout, including butt. One of the latter was 
a very finely finished and handsome rod with solid silver 
mountings, neatly engraved ; it was accompanied by a reel 
of mother of pearl, the only one I have ever seen. This 
last was doubtless one of his later rods. 



138 Book of the Black Bass. 

My opinion now is that Phillippe was really the first 
maker, and consequently the inventor of the split-bamboo 
rod, and made his first rod before they were made in 
England. I do not believe that the three-section rent and 
glued-up bamboo rod was made in London previous to 
1845, though rods of three sections of hickory and other 
hard woods were, perhaps, made as early or earlier. 

I do not think it possible that Phillippe, in a small in- 
terior town in Pennsylvania, ever heard of an English 
split-bamboo rod before his invention; for even Mr. Mit- 
chell, an old and experienced rod maker of Xew York, says 
in the article referred to: 

" The first sjilit-bainboo rod I ever saw or heard of was made 
by Wm. Blacker, 54 Dean street, Soho. London, and to order, for 
James Stevens, an old and well-known angler, of Hoboken, N. J. 
This was in 1852, and it was given to me for repairs and altera- 
tions in that year." 

The late Professor Alfred M. Mayer, editor of the Cen- 
tury Company's " Sport With Eod and Gun/'* in a foot- 
note to Dr. Wilkinson's article, says in reference to this 
rod: 

"1 have seen a split-bamboo rod made according to the sugges- 
tions of that distinguished angler, the late James Stevens, of 
Hoboken, by Blacker, of London. This rod is of three sections, 
with the enamel on the outside, and was made in 1852, while Mr. 
Stevens was in London, This date has been accurately determined 
for me by his son, Mr. Frank Stevens." 

N"otwith?tanding the great number of British books on 
angling published during a centur}^, there is no mention of 

* Dr. A. G. Wilkinson was the first to suggest to the editor of 
" Scribner's Magazine." Dr. Holland, to publish a series of articles 
on sports with gun and rod, of which his was the first. 



FlSHIXG EODS. 139 

the rent and glued-up cane rod previous to 1847. In this 
year "Ephemera^' (Edward Fitzgibbon) published his 
^' Hand-book of Angling/^ in which he gives a description 
of the method of ^Ir. Little, a London rod maker, in the 
construction of a salmon rod composed of an ash butt, with 
the other joints of three-section split and glued-up bam- 
boo cane. 

During the Chicago World's Fair a daughter of Samuel 
Phillippe called on me and gave me a very interesting 
account of her father. Among other things she stated 
that after her father's death Joseph Jefferson, the actor, 
called at their house and purchased one of her father's 
rods. 

Mr. Solon C. Phillippe, of Easton, Pa., a son of Samuel 
Phillippe, furnished me with the following notes concern- 
ing his father : 

" Samuel Phillippe was born August 9, 1801, in Reading, Pa., 
and died in Easton, Pa., May 25, 1877. He went to Easton when 
about sixteen years old, where he learned the trade of gunsmith 
with Mr. Peter Young. He was a skilled workman in wood or 
metal. He made violins and fishing rods in addition to his regu- 
lar work as a gunsmith. He received a silver medal for one of his 
violins from the Franklin Institute Fair, at Pliiladelphia. He 
made the first " Kinsey " fishing hooks from patterns furnished by 
Phineus Kinsey, of Easton, Pa. He was a good trout fisher, and 
fished at times in company v/ith Thad. Norris, of Philadelphia, 
and Judge Jas. Madison Porter, Colonel T. R,. Sitgreaves, Wm. 
Green, Phineus Kinsey, John and Abraham DoHart, Sheriff Heck- 
man, and others of Easton. 

" He visited a number of places Avith Mr. Thad. Norris, when 
the latter was seeking a location for a trout hatchery, and which 
was finally located near Bloomsburg, N. J. Mr. Norris often saw 
Phillippe at work on split-bamboo rods in his shop. Charles F. 
Murphy, himself a noted rod maker, of Newark, N. J., also visited 
Phillippe to learn something of his method of making split-bam- 
boo rods. 



140 Book of the Black Bass. 

" In his first experiments Phillippe made tips and second joints 
of two, and then three sections of split-bamboo, enamel outside, 
with butts of solid cane or ash. But these rods would not cast the 
fly true. He then made the joints of four sections, and found that 
they would cast perfectly in any direction. He then made com- 
plete rods of four sections, including the butt, and later of six 
sections or strips; the enamel was always on the outside. These 
rods Avere for his o\vn use, but afterward he made some for his 
friends, one of the first being for Colonel T. R. Sitgreaves, with 
ash butt and joints of four-section split-bamboo. 

" His books show that the first split-bamboo rod sold was in 
1848. This was a four-section rod in three pieces, all split-bamboo, 
including the butt. His first rods were made certainly as early as 

1845. Solon Phillippe learned rod making, in addition to the 
trade of gunsmith, from his father. In 1859 Solon made a com- 
plete rod of six sections; the handpiece, 18 inches long, was 
made of twelve sections of hard wood. In 1876 he made a three- 
piece rod, with handpiece of red-wood, and balance of rod of eight 
sections or strips, four of split-bamboo, and four of snakewood, 
alternating." 

Following are extracts from letters relating to this sub- 
ject from some of my correspondents, as evidence to cor- 
roborate my opinion that Samuel Phillippe was the first 
maker of the split-bamboo rod: 

From Mr. Geo. W. Stout, of Easton, Pa. : 

" I came to this town in 1851. I made my first split-bamboo rod 
in 1860, and got my idea from Phillippe's rods. I was an amateur 
only, and never made more than a dozen in all. * * * Ex- 
SherifT Thos. Heckman, now in his eighty-sixth year, was a life- 
long acquaintance of Phillippe, and often went fishing with him. 
He is well preserved, with an excellent memory, and is good 
authority. He says he knows that Samuel Phillippe made split- 
bamboo rods in 1846. Edward Innes, a man of repute, aged about 
sixty-seven, remembers seeing him making one of these rods in 
1847. You may rely implicitly on the evidence of Heckman and 
Innes, who both fished with Sam before, and many years after, 

1846. Innes was much at Sam's shop before 1847, and fixes the 



Fishing Eods. 141 

date by its being just before he removed to Philadelphia, where 
he resided several years."' 

From Mr. Thos. Heckman, ex-Sheriff of Easton, Pa. : 

" I knew Sam Phillippe a great many years, some sixty or 
seventy. I have fished with him many times, sometimes for a 
Aveek's camping in the mountains of Monroe County. He was the 
first man in this part of the country to build a split-bamboo rod. 
He made two for me, one of Avhich is still in good condition. To 
my best recollection he built his first rod about 1846; he made 
his own ferrules, rings, and keepers." 

From Abbey & Imbrie, of New York City : 

" Your account of the origin of the split-bamboo rod is perfectly 
correct. Our Mr. Abbey, the writer, was the active member of 
Andrew Clerk & Co. at the time of the origination, by Mr. Phil- 
lippe, of the split-bamboo rod, and is. therefore, well acquainted 
with its history down to the present time." 

From Mr. Chas. F. Murph}^ of Newark, N. J. : 

" Mr. Chas. Luke, of this city, formerly of Easton, Pa., used to 
fish and hunt with Mr. Phillippe, and frequented his workshop, 
where he saw him use split-bamboo for fly rods certainly as far 
back as 1848. Luke moved from Easton to Newark in 1850. I 
am very certain you can give Phillippe credit for the discovery of 
split-bamboo for fly rods without fear of being contradicted. 
While making rods for Andrew Clerk & Co., Mr. Abbey, of that 
firm, showed Mr. Green and myself a rod made by ]\Ir. Phillippe, 
the top and second joint made of split-bamboo, with butt joint 
made from white ash. I made the first split-bamboo salmon rod, 
also the first black bass rod of split-bamboo." 

From Dr. ^Y. W. Bowlby, of New York City : 

" My earliest recollection of the split-bamboo rod dates back to 
about the year 185'2. At that time I lived in New Jersev, near 



142 Book of the Black Bass. 

Easton, Pa,, and fished in the same waters in New Jersey and 
Pennsylvania with an old gunsmith of Easton, known among us as 
' Old Sam Phillippe.' It was about the year above named that 
I saw a split-bamboo rod in his possession, and he informed me 
at the time that he was the originator of the idea ; and to him, I 
earnestly believe, belongs the credit of having first conceived the 
idea of constructing a rod from such material." 

While certain parties were compelled to concede the pri- 
ority of Phillippe in this matter, they sought to detract 
somewhat from his laurels hy pronouncing his rods crude 
affairs, with the added remark that they were not " com- 
plete," having white ash butts. Now, judging from the 
rod in my possession, old Sam Phillippe knew just what a 
trout flv rod should be in its action, both in castins: a flv 



Philippe split-bamboo rod in possession of the author. 

and in playing a trout; and it is on these qualities of a 
rod that its merits should be judged, rather than on the 
style of its construction or fine appearance. Of course, it 
is better, and desirable, to have beauty of form combined 
with excellence of action whenever this is possible; but T 
have seen hundreds of split-bamboo rods that, while they 
were all that could be desired as to style and appearance, 
were sadly lacking as to the purposes and uses for which 
they were constructed. 

The ash l)utt of my Phillippe rod gives just the right 
amount of l^ackbone, and the bamboo joints just the requi- 



Fishing Eods. 143 

site' pliancy and resiliency needed in a fly rod. Its joints 
are just as straight and intact as when first made. It is 
as honest and reliable, and, I might say, as perfect a rod, 
so far as its uses and action are concerned, as some of my 
modern rods, " complete " though they may be. 

But old Sam Phillippe also made rods entirely of split- 
bamboo, and of six sections as well, afterward, and, as I 
now believe, before any other maker attempted the con- 
struction of a split-bamboo rod. And that he improved on 
his earlier efforts those who saw the silver-mounted six- 
section rod in my exhibit at the Chicago World's Fair can 
bear witness. 



The first split-bamboo rods for the trade were made by 
Mr. Charles F. Murph}^, of Newark, who made the first 
split-bamboo salmon-rod in 1865, which Dr. Andrew Clerk 
took to Scotland, where it proved a success. Subsequently, 
Genio C. Scott took the same rod to the St. Lawrence, and, 
on his return, published an interesting account of his trip 
and the use of the rod, in Wilkes' " Spirit of the Times," in 
the same year. The first split-bamboo black bass rod was 
made by Mr. ]\Iurphy, in 1866. 

To Andrew Clerk & Co., and their successors. Abbey & 
Imbrie, belong the credit and honor of bringing this rod 
to its present state of perfection and prominence. They 
were the first patrons of Phillippe, Murphy, and Leonard, 
and gave them every assistance and encouragement. 

The best form of the split-bamboo rod, in my opinion, 
as proved by actual service, is the round, six-section rod. 
Many experiments have been made to improve upon this 
method. The hexagonal rod is claimed to be preferable 
to the round rod, inasmuch as there is no cutting away of 



144 Book of the Black Bass. 

the surface enamel or outside siliceous coating, at the 
angles, as in the formation of the round rod, and is there- 
fore a stronger rod. 

While this looks plausible enough it has no foundation 
in fact. The hexagonal rod is not a true six-sided figure, 
but rather a round figure with six angles; for the face of 
each section is of course slightly rounded, or convex, as it 
originally existed in the cane, and the extremely small 
amount of outside surface that is taken off at the angles to 
make the rod round does not amount to mucli, or weaken 
the rod a particle. In my opinion a round rod will cast 
truer in every direction. 

Another plan has been advocated, to reverse the process 
in sawing the strips, and place the enamel or outside coating 
at the interior of the rod. And still another, and some- 
what better plan, by the way, has been proposed, more 
especially for tips, as follows: 

nn 

The shaded sides of the sections represent the outer coat- 
ing. The sections are to be pressed together, and glued in 
the position in which they are drawn in the figure, which 
brings the enamel of each strip partly inside and partly out- 
side ; the piece is then worked down to a round form, hav- 
ing the center of enamel, and the circumference of alter- 
nate strips of inside and a small portion of the siliceous or 
outside layer. 

Then these rods have been made of eight and nine strips ; 
but there is no real merit in any of these last-mentioned 



Fishing Eods. 145 

plans, and the six-section, outside enamel, hexagonal or 
round, is the only common-sense, practical plan. 

A first-class sj^lit-bamboo rod is strong enough for all 
the emergencies of bait- or fly-fishing if properly handled, 
but in England a steel wire center is added by one maker, 
and spiral wire ribbing by another, though the latter is for 
whole cane rods. In this country, natural bamboo rods 
have been closely wound with linen thread to add stiffness 
and strength. The best plan to meet these requirements 
is that patented by Mr. J. M. Kenyon, of Toledo, Ohio, 
and consists in closely winding with very fine silk from butt 
to tip, and using several coats of transparent varnish. The 
rod when finished is a beautiful object, requiring the aid of 
a magnifying glass to see the silk wrapping. It is called 
the " silkien " rod, and is also made by the T. H. Chubb 
Rod Co., Post Mills, Vt. The first rod made on this prin- 
ciple that I ever saw was alluded to in the first edition of 
this book. It was spirally wrapped with fine strips of 
rattan. In appearance it was a beauty, but in practice a 
complete failure. 

Black Bass Bait Rods. 

The black bass and its mode of capture, prior to 1870, 
was altogether too much neglected, if not entirely ignored, 
by most writers of that period upon the gentle art, either 
from a lack of interest, or a want of proper information 
upon the subject. Some works that were held in the 
highest esteem contained the least information upon black 
bass angling, and even that little was unreliable and un- 
satisfactory. As a rule, our old angling authors damned 
the black bass with faint praise, and gave but the most 
primitive methods for its capture. 
10 



146 Book of the Black Bass. 

Most writers of that time devoted their attention ex- 
clusively to the salmon and brook trout among the fresh- 
water game-fishes, or to the striped bass, bluefish and weak- 
fish, among the salt-water species. While acknowledging 
the game qualities and fine sport afforded the angler by 
these different species, and which acknowledgment is 
founded upon ample personal experience with them all, 
1 regard the black l)ass as one of our gamest fishes; and 
an experience of more than forty years has convinced me 
that the sport afforded by it is not surpassed by the pursuit 
of any other member of tlie finny tribe. 

Thirty A^ears ago a person entering a tackle shop in a 
western town and inquiring for black bass tackle, would 
be presented with a rod from twelve to sixteen feet long, 
weighing from one to two pounds, a large brass reel, with 
a liandle like a coffee-mill crank, a line more suital)le for a 
chalk line, and a large ungainly hook with a side bend — 
and all this formidable array of clumsy apparatus to do 
battle with such a thoroughbred and noble foe as the black 
bass! Combination rods, general rods, perch rods, cheap 
striped-bass tackle, et hoc genus omne, had been, as a rule, 
manufactured for the western market, and sold for black 
bass fishing. 

This was the more surprising as the black bass inhabited 
so many of the waters of the Union, from New England 
to Florida, and from Maryland to Missouri. He was, 
moreover, the acknowledged peer of the brook trout for 
gameness by those who knew him best, and it was " a con- 
summation devoutly to be wished " that as much skill 
should be displa3'ed in his capture, and as elegant and as 
suitable tackle employed for the purpose as in the case of 
his speckled rival. 

Those enthusiastic and observant anglers who learned 



Fishing Eods. 147 

from experience that there was a want not supplied in 
black bass rods, as offered by the trade^ and who possessed 
sufficient mechanical skill, constructed their own rods and 
fished in their own way; and as these worthy souls were 
generally regarded as authority in their respective localities 
on the subject of black bass fishing, and not without reason, 
their particular st3de of rod was adopted in their particular 
locality as the " perfect bass rod." This will account for 
the marked difference of opinion upon this subject in dif- 
ferent sections of the country, for each such rod was made 
in accordance with the style of fishing, and the character of 
the waters to be fished. 

Many years ago, while residing in Wisconsin, I con- 
ceived the idea of writing a book on the black bass, in order 
to do justice to a fish that seemed to be but little under- 
stood, and likewise to divest the sport of black bass angling, 
as it then existed, of some of its primitive and disagreeable 
features, and give it a higher place in the catalogue of noble 
sports. 

I was convinced that it was only necessary to present 
the claims of the black bass in a proper light, and to give 
a descrijotion of the most suitable tackle for its capture, 
to induce the angling fraternity to accord full justice 
to a noble fish, which I felt satisfied was, for several 
reasons, destined to become the leading game-fish of 
America. 

Accordingly, I began making notes of my observations 
of the habits of the black bass, and was collecting data 
for the intended treatise, when, fortunately and oppor- 
tunely, Mr. Charles Hallock founded and established that 
excellent journal, " Forest and Stream," which came just 
when it was most needed. Here then was my opportunity 
to reach the anglers of the countr}^ and I was not slow to 



148 Book of the Black Bass. 

embrace it, and at once began to champion the cause of 
the black bass. 

I prepared a series of articles on the black bass and black 
bass angling, and described at some length the proper rod, 
reel, line, hook, etc., and mode of using them, to render it 
not only feasil^le, but practicable, to convince the angler 
of the high order of game qualities inherent to the black 
bass, and that by the use of suitable tackle it would not 
suffer by a comparison with other game-fishes. The seed 
of these articles was sown in good ground, and yielded 
abundantly. I received letters from hundreds of black 
bass anglers, in all parts of the country, thanking and 
complimenting me for the ideas suggested, and for espous- 
ing the cause of their favorite fish, the black bass. The 
result proved far beyond my most hopeful anticipations, 
and I have the satisfaction of knowing that to-day there is 
no game-fish more eagerly sought for, and none that is 
being more rapidly introduced into new waters by its ad- 
vocates and admirers. 

In February, 1875, I contributed an article, entitled 
'' The Coming Black Bass Rod," to " Forest and Stream,'' 
which gave a description of my idea of a proper rod for 
black bass angling, founded on many years experience, and 
the use of many different rods for this purpose. Mr. C. F. 
Orvis, of Manchester, Vermont, at once began the manu- 
facture of a black bass rod from those suggestions, and he 
was soon followed by other manufacturers, who, seeing the 
necessity for a new departure from the old beaten path, 
soon began to make short and light black bass rods more 
in accordance with the spirit of the age and the demands 
of their customers, and thus replaced the former long, 
heavy and clumsy affairs by the elegant, short, light and 
pliant rod of the present day. And not only has the length 



Fishing Kods. 149 

and weight of bait rods been reduced, but fly rods of all 
patterns have been much reduced in length, during the past 
fifteen years, to their great advantage. 

The Henshall Black Bass Minnow Eod. 

While a rod may vary somewhat, according to the mode 
of angling, there is no good reason for such a wide diver- 
sity of opinion as obtains on the question of black bass rods. 
For instance : Fishing from the bank of a swift and nar- 
row stream, wading the bars of a wide river, or fishing 
from a boat on a quiet lake, seem in themselves apparently 
very different j^rocesses; but in reality they are only 
slightly different means of securing the same end — the 
capture of the black bass with a minnow for bait, for my 
remarks apply only to bait fishing, and a properly con- 
structed rod would answer in either place and fulfill either 
condition, when accompanied by a light, freely-rendering 
reel, together with a fine line. An artistic angler, fishing 
for trout or black bass with the fly, would use his fly rod 
in either place — from a boat, from the bank, or while 
wading the stream; he would use the same rod under any 
and every circumstance, wherever he had room to make a 
cast. The black bass bait fisher will ,in time become as 
consistent as the fly fisher, but it will only be when he 
adopts the proper rod, which rod I will now endeavor to 
describe. 

I start out with the proposition that a first-class Ameri- 
can, single-handed trout fly rod is, per se, the very perfec- 
tion of rods and the chefdccuvre of the rod-maker's art. 
Such a rod for general work is about ten feet long, and is 
made of split-bamboo, or a combination of ash and lance- 
wood, weighing from six to eight ounces. With such a 
rod, properly handled, either line, leader or hook may part, 



150 Book of the Black Bass. 

but the rod will remain intact. It combines all the essen- 
tial qualities of a good rod, viz : balance, lightness, strength, 
elasticity, and pliancy. A salmon rod is only a trout 
fly rod enlarged, proportionately, in every particular, and 
made to be used with two hands instead of one. 

Now, if all fish were caught with the fly, there would 
be no need for other rods than trout and salmon fly rods; 
but as such, unfortunately, is not the case, we are com- 
pelled to adopt other rods in accordance with the mode of 
fishing, the character of the fish to be caught, and the kind 
of bait to be used. But whatever may be the nature of 
the rod that is to be made, let this general rule or principle 
be followed in its construction: Let the rod conform as 
nearly as possible to the typical rod, i. e., the trout fly rod, 
as is consistent with the manner of service required of it. 
If we follow this rule we can not go very far astray. 

Acting upon this principle, then, I have found in my 
experience that the essential qualities or attributes of a 
good black bass rod for bait-fishing, are much the same 
as the typical rod for balance, weight, strength, and elastic- 
ity, but stiffer, or not so supple. The slight stiffening 
of the rod makes it correspondingly heavier, and in order 
to maintain the same relative weight, we must cut down 
the length of the rod to eight or eight and a half feet, 
which is found by experience to be far superior to longer 
rods for black bass fishing. 

As a comparatively long, pliant rod is best for casting a 
fly, so is a short, stiffish rod best for casting a minnow. 
With a rod of this character, and a free-running, multiply- 
ing reel, it is an easy matter to cast from thirty to forty 
yards. The situation of the reel upon the butt must be a 
compromise between the single and double-handed fly rods ; 
for though the rod is used almost entirely with one hand. 



Fishing Eods. 151 

yet there are emergencies when both hands must be used, 
for occasionally a six-pound bass or a fifteen-pound pick- 
erel, pike-perch, or catfish will be hooked, or an unusually 
bold or fierce fighting bass may get the advantage of one 
and take to the weeds or rocks. It is also essential to 
have enough room for the hand below the reel in casting, 
as the thumb must control the running off of the line, and 
prevent the reel from overrunning or backlash ing. It 
must have light standing guides, instead of the rings used 
on the fly rod. 

The rod from which my original description of the 
" Coming Black Bass Rod " was taken was eight feet and 
three inches long, in three joints; the first joint or butt 
was composed of white ash, and the second joint and tip 
of lancewood; it weighed just eight ounces; it was finely 
balanced, Avith a true bend from butt piece to tip; with it 
I killed hundreds of black bass, weighing from two to six 
pounds, and j^ike from five to fifteen pounds. I used it 
many seasons, and failed to see where it could be improved. 
I oftentimes cast out my entire line of fifty yards when 
casting with the wind. I felt justly proud of the merits 
of the rod, for I made it myself. 

Standard Henshall Rod. 

The following are the correct specifications of the rod 
just described ; it should be borne in mind that the diame- 
ters are of the wood, or more properly of the inside diame- 
ter of the female ferrule, where the joints are concerned; 
also that the joints are flush, or non-doweled, and with 
reel-bands instead of a solid metal reel-seat : 

Total length of rod, 8 feet, 3 inches. 

Length of each piece (without ferrule). 33 inches. 



152 Book of the Black Bass. 

Length of grip (from extreme butt to reel-seat), 7 inches. 

Length of reel-seat, 4 inches. 

Diameter of greatest bulge of grip, 1 inch. 

Diameter of butt cap, % of an inch. 

Diameter of reel-seat, % of an inch. 

Diameter of small end of butt piece, % of an inch. 

Diameter of small end of second piece, ^4 of an inch. 

Diameter of extreme tip, 3/32 of an inch. 

From the reel-seat to the end of butt piece is a gradual taper. 

The specifications and measurements as given above arc 
also correct for a split-bamboo rod where reel-bands are 
used instead of a solid metal reel-seat, and a rod thus con- 
structed will weigh but eight ounces; but if a metal reel- 
seat is preferred^ with the butt-piece tapering rapidly from 
it (instead of a gradual taper), ferrules of -^^ of an inch 
less diameter may be employed, making a rod of eight 
ounces, or with reel-bands, of seven and one-half ounces in 
weight. 

When the butt of the Ilenshall rod is constructed of any 
wood heavier than ash — that is, when the entire rod is 
made of split-bamboo, lancewood, bethabara, or greenheart 
— the best plan, in order that the weight of the rod may 
not exceed eight ounces, and that its balance and action be 
not impaired, is to use a short " handle " of lighter wood. 

I have always been partial to a butt-piece, including the 
^' grip," being fashioned from a single piece of wood, and 
with reel-bands instead of a metal reel-seat; and where 
this is done, with an artistically-fashioned, swelling hand- 
piece, and with a graceful hollow taper from the reel-seat 
to the rod proper, it presents, to my eye, a certain adapt- 
ive beauty and fitness that I fail to see in the short, stubby 
handle affixed to many modern rods. However, this is best 
accomplished with some such light wood as ash, black wal- 
nut, or red cedar; and where a heavier wood, or split-bam- 



Fishing Rods. 153 

boo, is used for butt-pieces, the short handle of lighter ma- 
terial, if artistically fashioned, is perhaps the better way in 
order to preserve the qualities of pliability and balance. 

The handle comprises the grip, reel-seat, and from two 
to four inches above the reel-seat, making a handle of from 
thirteen to fifteen inches long, into which the butt-piece 
proper is inserted, the joint being closed by a tapered metal 
collar or winding check. 

The diameter of the lower end of the butt-piece (where 
it joins the handle) should not exceed the diameter of the 
upper, or smaller end of the butt-piece, more than one- 
eighth of an inch ; that is, the inside diameter of the wind- 
ing check must not be greater than one-half inch, where a 
three-eighths ferrule is used on the smaller end. 

There are various ways of finishing the " grip " of the 
handle, which may be formed of the same wood as the 
handle, and smoothed and polished, presenting a very 
beautiful appearance. Where it is desired to obtain a 
firmer hold of the hand, it may be grooved with fine trans- 
verse corrugations, or be fluted longitudinally. Another 
method is to wrap the grip with cord, or strips of rattan; 
or the grip may be fashioned of hard rubber, and may be 
smooth, or corrugated, or fluted. The best grip, however, 
is one of cork, which allows a firmer hold of the hand than 
any other material, and being lighter, can be of larger 
caliber. 

Some rod manufacturers depart from these specifications 
by making the grip of the butt several inches longer, but 
this only adds to the weight and length of the rod without 
being of any real benefit; on the contrary, it is a positive 
disadvantage to single-handed rods to have a grip, or hand- 
piece, extending from nine to twelve inches below the reel- 
seat. 



154 



Book of the Black Bass. 



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Fishing Rods. 155 

The following measurements are of a Leonard split-bam- 
boo Henshall rod that I have used for many years : 

Total length of rod, 8 feet, 1 inch. 

Length of grip, C inches. 

Greatest bulge of grip, 1 inch. 

Length of reel-seat, 4 inches. 

Diameter of reel-seat, % of an inch. 

Diameter of butt piece at handle, 13/32 of an inch. 

Diameter of butt piece at small end, 11/32 of an inch. 

Diameter of second piece at small end, 7/32 of an inch. 

Diameter of extreme tip, 3/32 of an inch. 

Weight of rod, QVz ounces. 

This rod from being especially well made, and of selected 
material, is as powerful as an eight-ounce ash and lance- 
wood rod. By comparing its measurements with the stand- 
ard rod of eight ounces, before given, a rod of intermediate 
weight may be constructed by slightly increasing the diame- 
ters of the Leonard rod, said diameters being of the male 
ferrules. 



Fig. 4. 



The bethabara Henshall rod, of the standard length and 
proportion, is somewhat heavier than one of ash and lance- 
wood, but preferred by many on that account. In other 
qualities it is an excellent rod, more resilient than green- 
heart or lancewood, and is spoken of in the highest terms 
by those who have used it. I can heartily recommend it, 



156 Book of the Black Bass. 

also, having had much practical experience with it. Mal- 
colm A. Shipley, Philadelphia, makes a specialty of betha- 
bara rods. 

The standard Henshall rod, of ash and lancewood, has a 
true and gradual taper from the reel-seat to the tip, which 
gives it a back, which, while just stiff enough for casting a 
minnow, is sufficiently pliable and yielding to give a cor- 
rect working to the rod under the play of a lively fish. 
And just here is where so many rods fail — they are made 
too weak in the butt-piece, or the upper tAVO-thirds of it, 
usually by a rapid and concave taper to reduce the caliber 
of the rod at this point, in order to gain lightness. But 
this can only be done at the expense of weakening the rod, 
and spoiling its action. 

When a rod has too weak a back, or too slender a butt 
at this point, it causes the rod to be top-heavy, and pro- 
duces what is known as a " double action " in the rod, or 
a " kick in the handle ;" qualities which were sought for 
in some salmon fly rods in the old country, as it was sup- 
posed that a fly could be cast farther with rods of this 
character. But it was necessary that the angler should 
become thoroughly educated in the handling of a rod with 
this peculiarity to be enabled to use it with any degree of 
satisfaction. 

However much this principle may have been desired by 
British salmon fishers, it becomes the very worst feature 
in a black bass minnow rod. With this defect in a bait 
rod, it is impossible to cast with any accuracy, or to any 
great distance. And, moreover, it produces in the angler 
a lack of confidence in his rod, for it " feels weak " to him 
at the very point where it should feel the strongest, and 
really the rod Avould give way at just this very point under 
a heavy strain. 



Fishing Eods. 157 

But, to refer to my rod again : I can easily cast a min- 
now from forty to fifty yards, and with great accuracy, 
the back being just stiff and yielding enough for this 
purj)Ose. The bend from the last third of the butt-piece 
to the tip forms a true curve under the strain of a hard- 
pulling fish, which is the bend so desirable, and so hard to 
obtain. The strain falls equally upon the entire rod, so 
that it is impossible for me to tell just where it would 
break. The weak part of an imperfect rod can always be 
felt by an expert angler, and he knows perfectly well, while 
playing a fish, just where the rod is weakest, and just where 
it would fail. 

I have been informed by some makers that occasionally 
an angler will order a Henshall rod with the butt extending 
below the reel clamps a foot or more, so as to reach under 
the elbow, and thus form a point d'appuL This demand 
is founded on the use of the old-style rods, which were so 
heavy and long as to require either this support, or what 
was worse, the holding of the rod with both hands. The 
object of the modern black bass rod is to dispense entirely 
with this ungraceful and clumsy style, and enable the rod 
to be used with the hand alone, as in fly fishing. 

The novice will be sometimes told by theoretical anglers 
that he must procure a rod which accords with his size, 
strength, and general build; that a rod which suits one 
angler, will be too long, too short, too heavy, or too light 
for another. Now, this is all gammon ; a rod must be 
made to suit the kind of fish, and the mode of fishing, with- 
out any reference whatever to the angler himself. 

In ordering a shot-gun that is to be used on all kinds of 
game, from the lordly buck to the dainty quail, it is of the 
highest importance that the gun should be built to fit the 
sportsman in every particular, and he then varies the charge 



158 Book of the Black Bass. 

according to the game. But there is no analogy between . 
a shot-gun and a fishing rod; the latter weighs but ounces, 
where the former weighs pounds, and the weight of a rod 
for black bass angling will suit a weakly youth, or the 
strongest man, as well. A half-pound in weight is of no 
moment as compared to the strength of a man; and it is 
all stuff, and the sheerest nonsense, to talk of making a rod 
of this weight conform to the muscular requirements of 
any individual. A well-balanced rod feels the same to the 
weakest man or strongest, the tallest man or shortest; 
while a rod that lacks this quality will feel right to no one. 
I have no patience or sympathy with those visionary book- 
anglers who talk or write such ridiculous nonsense or spin 
such fine-drawn theories. 

A Home-made Black Bass Rod. 

As the black bass anglers of Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, 
northern Alabama, and the south-west generally are ex- 
tremely partial to a natural cane or bamboo rod, I desire 
to tell them how to make a good one of this material at 
little cost, and which, though not a " thing of beauty," will 
prove itself a " joy forever," in comparison Avith the cane 
rod, as generally used. After employing such a rod as I 
am about to describe for one season, the angler will be 
ready to advance another step, and adopt a good ash and 
lancewood rod, which contingency, I am free to admit, is 
the principal motive for this information. 

A natural bamboo cane, as it is procured at the tackle 
stores, is from fifteen to twenty feet in length; and it is 
the custom, in the localities named, to use from ten to 
twelve feet of the smaller or upper end of such a cane for 
a black bass rod, after attaching standing guidesp and a reel 
fastening. While such a rod is strong and light, with a 



FiSHixG EoDa 159 

moderate degree of pliancy and elasticity, it entirely lacks 
the great desideratum, balance, being decidedly top-heavy, 
and is too small at the butt to allow of a firm grasp of the 
hand, generally necessitating the use of both hands to hold 
it. Now, to obtain the greatest amount of good and pleas- 
ure from a rod of this character, proceed as follows : 

Select a genuine Calcutta bamboo cane, which may be 
known by its dark, mottled markings, caused by its having 
been burnt about the leaf-ridges, or knots. Select one that 
is hard and elastic, with a good taper, and quite small at 
the tip ; those known as " male " canes are the best, having 
larger bulges, or leaf-ridges, and being much tougher than 
the " female " canes. Having chosen a good one, cut off 
six and a half feet of the smaller end for the rod ; the re- 
maining larger portion of the cane will make a good handle 
for a landing-net. 

Now make a wooden butt of white-ash or black-walnut, 
from eighteen to twenty inches long, of the following di- 
ameters: At the extreme butt end, seven-eighths of an 
inch; now increase the diameter by a gradual taper to an 
inch and one-eighth at a distance of five inches from the 
extreme butt; then decrease the taper to an inch at a dis- 
tance of seven inches from extreme butt. The next four 
inches forms the reel seat, and is one inch in diameter 
throughout its length; now decrease the diameter by a 
rapid, concave taper for a distance of two inches, to three- 
fourths of an inch, and thence a gradual taper to the 
smaller end of the butt, which must exceed the diameter 
of the large end of the cane about one-sixteenth of an 
inch; the diameter of the large end of the cane-joint — 
where cut in two — will be from half an inch to five- 
eighths of an inch. 

Having proceeded according to the instructions just 



160 Book of the Black Bass. 

given, we have a cane joint six feet and six inches long, 
and a wooden butt say twenty inches long, with the grip 
of one and one-eighth of an inch in diameter, and the reel 
seat of one inch diameter. Now procure a set of reel 
bands one inch inside diameter; a pair of ferrules for the 
joint — the inside diameter of the smaller or male ferrule 
being of the same diameter as the large end of the cane 
piece, which can readily be ascertained with a pair of 
calipers; five standing guides, graduated sizes, and a solid 
metal tip. These mountings should be brass or German 
silver. The guides should be attached at equal distances 
from the reel seat to the tip; and, having properly fitted 
the ferrules and reel bands, give the rod two coats of shel- 
lac or coach varnish. When dry, the rod is ready for use, 
and will l)e about eight feet in length, and weighing from 
six to eight ounces — a single-handed rod equal to any 
rod made for casting, will he well-balanced and strong, 
but will lack the pliancy, resiliency and perfect working 
of a good ash and lancewood rod, yet it will be such a 
great improvement on the cane rod, as generally used, 
that it has only to be tried to be appreciated. 

Non-doweled Joint. 

One of the specifications of the Henshall rod is that the 
joints be made flush, with short, cylindrical ferrules, in- 
stead of the old-fashioned tapered ferrule with dowel and 
mortise ; and as so many of these rods have been sold dur- 
ing the past twenty years, it has had a great tendency to 
introduce and popularize this form of joint, which is now 
also applied to most fly rods to their great advantage. 

It is now forty years since I made my flrst rod with 
flush joints, having, at that time never heard of or seen a 



FiSIIIXG KODS. 



161 













1. Cross sections of Split-Bamboo Rod-Strips. 2. Reel Bands. 3. Winding 
Checks. 4. Metal Reel-Seat. 5. Capped Ferrules. 

11 



162 Book op the Black Bass. 

rod joint without dowels, and ever since I have been a 
firm believer in this improved joint. If there were want- 
ing any proof of the practical superiority of the non-dowel 
joint over the dowel and mortise joint, it would be found 
in the fact that so many old anglers, as Thaddeus Norris, 
Eeuben Wood, and Chas. F. Orvis, having the mechanical 
skill to construct their own rods, discarded the latter for 
the former stjde of joint many years ago. And, more- 
over, they all seem to have arrived at this determination 
and conclusion independently of each other. Many of the 
most valuable improvements and inventions have been 
made in like manner, each one supposing himself to be the 
sole inventor. 

I have often tlirown apart the tapered and doweled joints 
of the old style rods in casting with both fly and bait rods, 
and ha\'e had them break near the lower end of the female 
ferrule, in consequence of too deep a mortise at that point ; 
but with the C3dindrical, non-dowel joint I have never had 
either accident to occur. 

The cause of the separation and throwing apart of the 
dowel-mortise joint I conceive to be this: The ferrule, 
dowel, and mortise being made tapering, the male ferrule 
with its dov;el acts as a wedge, and the continual springing 
of the rod in casting tends to loosen this wedge, and to 
eventually separate? the joint, in the same way that we 
extract a nail by working it from side to side. This fact 
can be easily demonstrated by separating the tapered dowel 
joint by working it back and forth in this manner, with the 
hands close to the ferrules. But it cannot be done with 
the flush cylindrical ferrule joint; to separate the latter it 
is necessary to pull or twist it apart, for no amount of 
springing it back and forth will loosen it. This fact ren- 
ders nugatory and superfluous all locking devices, screws. 



Fishing Rods. 163 

cleats, and strings, which have been proposed to secure the 
joint, and prevent its separation in casting. 

Ferrules should be short, and perfectly cylindrical. It 
is not necessary for the female butt ferrule to exceed two 
and a half inches in length, nor two inches for the second 
joint. The male ferrules should be of a corresponding 
length, say one inch, which will give all the " hold " re- 
quired. The ferrules should be perfectly fitted to each 
other throughout their entire extent. The lower end of the 
male ferrule, and the bottom of the female ferrule should 
be protected by metal caps or disks, soldered on, to exclude 
moisture. The ferrules should be fitted without cutting 
the wood, and a wrapping of silk put on at the ends for a 
finish. A good plan is to wrap on a guide or ring imme- 
diately below the female ferrules, so that the upper wrap- 
ping of tlie guide extends to the ferrule, which thus serves 
a double purpose. 

Swell ferrules are unnecessary, and are neither so good 
nor strong as C3dindrical and uniform ones. The ends of 
the ferrules ma}?-; however, be split, or serrated, or be 
swaged into a hexagonal form for split-bamboo rods, to 
give a more perfect fit, without any disadvantage in other 
ways. Ferrules may be banded if the metal is very thin, 
which is apt to be the case with those drawn from German 
silver, which cannot be drawn so thick as brass. Ferrules 
should be affixed with shellac or cement instead of using a 
metal pin, which has a tendency to weaken the rod, and 
renders the removal of the ferrule more difficult for the 
purpose of repair. 

The Little Giant Eod. 
On page 91 is mentioned the hibernation of black bass 
under the ledges and in the crevices of the reefs about the 



164 



Book of the Black Bass. 







3 4 



5 6 





1. Solid agate. 
4. Tube. 



1. Agate. 

4. Anti-friction. 



Rod Tips. 

2. Basket agate. 
5. One ring. 

Standing Guides. 

2. Trumpet. 
5. T^visted. 



3. Three ring. 



3. Common. 
6. Two ring. 



Ring Guides. 
1. Snake. 2. Rings and keepers. 3. Spiral. 4. Standing ring. 



Fishing Eods. 165 

islands in the west end of Lake Erie. When the bass 
emerge from their winter quarters in the spring, and like- 
wise in the fall before retiring for their seclusion during 
the winter, they linger about the reefs for several weeks 
in water from ten to twenty feet deep. They are fished 
for at these periods with live minnows, and in order to 
keep the bait near the reefs comparatively heavy sinkers 
are employed, which requires a rather stiff rod. To meet 
this method of angling I devised a modification of the 
Henshall rod which has been styled the " little giant." It 
is made in two pieces with but one joint. Its measure- 
ments, when constructed of ash and lancewood, that is, 
with ash butt piece and lancewood, greenheart, or betha- 
bara upper piece, are as follows : 

Total length of rod, 7i^ feet. 

Length of grip, below reel-seat, 8 inches. 

Length of reel-seat, 4 inches. 

Greatest bulge of grip, 1% inches. 

Diameter of re el- seat, % of an inch. 

Diameter of male ferrule of joint, 11/32 of an inch. 

Diameter of extreme tip, % of an inch. 

Weight of rod, 8 ounces. 

It may be made somewhat lighter in split-bamboo with 
a short wooden handle^ but where sinkers of two or three 
ounces are used, eight ounces will be found light enough. 
This rod may be utilized for coast fishing, where sinkers 
of various weights are necessary in the tideways, for fish 
up to ten or fifteen pounds. Some anglers prefer it for 
black bass fishing under all circumstances. 

The Frog-casting Eod. 

Since the advantages of the short Henshall rod have 
been acknowledged, and the relegation of the long and 



166 Book of the Black Bass. 

heavy rods of the olden time has been effected^ there has 
arisen a new departure in black bass rods that out-herods 
Herod. Eods — we must call them so b}^ courtesy — are 
now made from four to six feet long for casting the live 
frog or pork rind, in boat fishing. The casting is done 
overhead and forward, as in fly fishing, and the frog, being 
reeled up to the tijo, is projected in the manner of throwing 
a small apple from the end of a slender stick; or, if the 
fi.sherman be seated, it is thrown to either side. 

It is possible to cast with much accuracy in this manner ; 
and in weedy waters, where the playing of a hooked fish 
is a matter of extreme difficulty, it has its advantages ; for 
the rod being not only very short, but very stiff, the fish 
can be reeled rapidly to the landing net. This mode of 
angling, however, does not appeal to one who has a just 
appreciation of the amenities of the gentle art and a love 
for suitable tackle, or to one who, being imbued with the 
proper esprit de corps, is disposed to give the fish a chance. 
There are some of my friends who, believing that the end 
justifies the means, practice frog-casting with such rods 
with much entliusiasm — they have my sympathy. Some 
really expensive rods are made for this method of fishing; 
with agate-lined guides and ivory-tipped handle, when 
fashioned in split-bamboo. 

Bristol Steel Eod. 
Anglers have been wont to say of good rods that they 
were as pliable and strong as steel, or were steel-like in 
action, little thinking that a real rod of steel would ever be 
made. Such a thing had been talked of as one of the 
possibilities, but I never imagined how it could be success- 
fully accomplished. I knew that a solid steel rod would 
be far too heavy, and I could not understand how a steel 



Fishing Eods. 167 

tube could be made with " play " enough to answer the 
requirements of a fishing rod. 

The difficulty has been solved, however, in the Bristol 
steel rod, made by the Horton Manufacturing Company, 
which is composed of three tapering steel tubes. Each 
tube is formed of a thin strip of steel, bent around a 
mandrel, the edges in close apposition, but not brazed; 
and therein lies the whole secret, for, being practically a 
slit tube, it admits of a twisting as well as a bending 
motion, thus simulating the action of a wooden rod; the 
twisting motion could not be obtained in a brazed or drawn 
tube. The tubes are exceedingly well tempered, which I 
imagine is one of the most important features of their con- 
struction. 

I have a Henshall Bristol steel rod, eight feet six inches 
in length, and weighing ten ounces, which shows to what 
a state of perfection the steel rod has reached since it 
was first introduced. The joints have brass, non-doweled 
ferrules, and with cork grip and agate-lined guides and tip, 
it will compare favorably with a good wooden rod for style 
and appearance, and in action is not far behind it, while 
for strength it is far ahead. For those anglers who prefer 
a stout, heavy rod, and one that will stand rough usage, 
and who fish where mascalonge and pike abound, or who 
resort to the waters of Florida where large bass are the 
rule, they will find in this rod their heart's desire. 

The Black Bass Fly Rod. 

A few pages back, I made the statement that the x4meri- 
can trout fly rod was the very perfection of fishing rods, 
and that all other rods should conform as nearly as possi- 
ble to said model or typical rod, commensurate with the 



168 Book of the Black Bass. 

manner of service required of them. Upon this principle 
an honest and well-made trout fly rod of good weight and 
length answers for black bass lly fishing; and, fortunately, 
a suitable rod of this character can be procured from 
any first-class maker; but I would caution the new hand 
against the many cheap rods now in the market. A good 
rod can only be obtained at a fair price. 

To propel so light an object as a cast of flies one hun- 
dred feet or more requires an instrument of propulsion 
as perfect as a rod can be made. Hence a fly rod must 
have stability and power, or backbone, in the lower third 
of the rod, with sufficient pliancy and resiliency in the 
upper two-thirds to respond to and augment the initial 
projective force applied by the arm of the angler. All 
fly rods should be made in accordance with this principle ; 
and it is only a question of proportion as between the 
heaviest salmon rod and the lightest trout rod. It is some- 
what on the principle of a long coach whip Avith a stifflsh 
butt and flexible top, which enables the driver to flick a fly 
from the flank of a leader in a four-in-hand with ease and 
precision. 

Single-handed fly rods are from nine to eleven feet long; 
and weigh from three to eight ounces. The heavier rods 
are for black bass and large trout, and the lightest for 
small trout. Comparatively light rods are now made 
powerful enough to cast nearly a hundred feet, and of 
sufficient strength to kill the largest brook trout. The 
pleasures of angling are much enhanced by the employ- 
ment of a light rod, which permits the angler to cast for 
hours without fatigue, Avhereas with the old long and heavy 
rod it was at best a labor of love. The best mat<?rial is 
split-bamboo, when of first quality, though lancewood, 
greenheart, or bethabara is more serviceable in the long 



Fishing Eods. 169 

run, and if made by a master hand is almost as satisfac- 
tory, especially for the heavier rods. 

A trout fly rod, then, weighing six or seven ounces, and 
not more than ten and a quarter feet long, is just about 
right for ordinary black bass fly-fishing; but where the 
bass run large, averaging nearly or quite three pounds, a 
somewhat heavier rod, say seven and a half or eight ounces, 
will be found a more suitable and pleasanter rod to handle, 
though the six-ounce rod will do even here, for one who is 
an expert fly-fisher, and who does not mind a little extra 
straining of the brachial muscles, to say nothing of the rod. 

But while an ounce, more or less, hardly seems an ap- 
preciable quantity in the abstract, yet when added to or 
taken from a fly rod, like the fraction of an inch as applied 
to a man's nose, it makes a very great difference in prac- 
tice and reality ; and in the former case, it is better to have 
an ounce too much, than a half ounce too little; for, 
like the repeating rifle when tackling a grizzly, it gives 
one a confidence in his resources which adds materially 
to the zest of his sport. 

It must be borne in mind, however, that it is not the 
largest bass that rise to the fly, and a lighter rod can, 
consequently, be used than in bait fishing; though where 
the bass run exceptionally large, and especially for the 
waters of Florida, six inches in length and an ounce in 
weight may be added. 

The rod should have a stiffer back than most trout fly 
rods of the same weight and length, but should still retain 
nearly the same pliancy, though necessarily most of the 
flexibility will be in the upper two-thirds of the rod. This 
gives pliancy for casting, resiliency for striking, and plenty 
of *^ backbone " for playing and landing the fish. Of 
course, a trout rod of about these dimensions will answer 



170 



Book op the Black Bass. 



• 



5. Split-Bamboo Fly Rod.— Abbey & Imbrie. 

6. Split-Bamboo Fly Rod.— Wm. Mills & Son. 

7. Bethabara Fly Rod.— Malcolm A. Shipley. 



ElSHIXG KODS. 171 

very well for black bass fishing, but as the flies to be used 
are generally larger than trout flies, and as the bass is usu- 
ally a much heavier fish than the brook trout, the rod 
will require a little more backbone than is usually found 
in trout rods. 

To obtain the necessary spring, snap, and stiffish back 
required in a black bass fly rod, much consideration must 
be given to the material of which it is to be constructed. 
In my opinion, there is no material that combines so many 
good and essential qualities as split-bamboo, if of the best 
quality, and if it is made up in a first-class manner. It is 
strong, flexible, comparatively light, and is the most re- 
silient material used in rod-making, approaching steel 
more nearly in this quality than any other wood. Ash and 
lancewood, greenheart, bethabara, and some other woods, 
when carefully selected, make excellent rods, but the best 
are inferior to a good split-bamboo rod. On the other 
hand, a first-class bethabara, or ash and lancewood fly-rod, 
is better than most split-bamboo rods as now made. 

It must be borne in mind that the action of the modern 
shorter and stifler fly rod difi'ers from the former long 
and Avillowy rod of English pattern. With the improved 
form the action in casting is quicker and somewhat jerky, 
while with the longer and more supple rod the action was 
slow, deliberate and more graceful, but required more 
force to get out a good length of line. 

The fly rod has the reel-seat at the extreme end of the 
butt, and the hand-piece, or grip, of course, above it; for 
the click-reel, which is used for fly-fishing, is a reel that is 
intended to " take care of itself " in the rendering of the 
line, and, therefore, is very properly placed where it is out 
of the way, and where it adds very much to the balance 
and general working of the rod. 



172 Book of the Black Bass. 

The reel-seat in fly rods is often made entirely of metal 
and v/hich, while much admired by many, only adds to the 
weight of the rod, without being of material service. For 
myself, I prefer a plain reel-seat, simply a depression, or 
grooA^e, cut in the butt of the rod, with reel-bands, as in 
the minnow rod. This answers every purpose, and to my 
mind there is nothing that can improve the beauty of a 
liandsomely finished wooden butt; and on this account, I 
am also prejudiced against the hand-piece, or grip, being 
wound with cord or rattan. The self-wood, of which the 
butt is composed, seems to me to be the best and most ap- 
propriate finish for the grip, both as regards utility and 
beauty ; for the cord, or rattan, with which the grip is usu- 
ally wound, in fine rods, is extremely liable to become 
loosened and worn off. 

The wound hand-piece and the metal reel-scat look very 
attractive, but are not proof against wear and tear; and 
for my own use, and in accordance with my idea of the fit- 
ness of things, T think the less a rod is encumbered with 
fanciful and ornamental appendages, the better. We 
should ever bear in mind the original primitive cane fish- 
ing pole, upon which model all rods are founded, more or 
less, and remember that simplicity and utility usually go 
hand in hand. 

The Henshall Black Bass Fly Eod. 

The specifications for this rod, in lancewood, and weigh- 
ing seven and one-half ounces, are as follows : 

Total length of rod, 10 feet, 2 inches. 
Length of each piece, without ferrule, 41 inches. 
Length of handle;, from extreme butt to top of winding check, 
12 inches. 

Length of reel-seat, 4 inches. 



Fishing Kods. 173 

Diameter of reel-seat, % of an inch. 

Length of grip, 7 inches. 

Diameter of greatest bulge of grip, 15/16 of an inch. 

Diameter of butt-piece at handle-joint, 15/32 of an inch. 

Diameter of male ferrule, butt-piece, % of an inch. 

Diameter of male ferrule, second piece, 15/64 of an inch. 

Diameter, extreme tip, 5/64 of an inch. 

It will be observed that while the ferrules "iised in this 
rod are the same as those in a short-handled Henshall min- 
now-easting rod of split-bamboo, the greater length of the 
several pieces in the fly rod gives it greater pliancy. It 
will be understood also that the joints are flush, or non- 
doweled, as in the same rod. 

The ferrules, reel-bands and butt-cap should be either 
solid brass, or German silver, without plating of any kind ; 
let us have the reaZ thing at all events, for I despise affecta- 
tion, or deception, in any matter or thing whatever. Brass 
is a good, honest, and bright metal, will not rust or tarnish, 
and if it is used at all let us use it on its merits, and for 
decency's sake avoid the common practice of plating it 
with nickel, or, what is worse, silver, for the plating soon 
wears off and exposes the cheat. 

Rings, instead of standing guides, are used, as they are 
lighter, and on the fly rod answer just as well; they are 
lashed on with spool-silk by means of small metal strips, 
known as " keepers." The rings should graduate in size 
from the butt to the tip, and should be of the same metal 
as the ferrules. The metal tip of the fly-rod is a single 
ring, which is preferable to a solid tip, or the three-ring 
style, on account of its extreme lightness, for it will be 
remembered that the tip, or top, of a fly-rod is of very 
small caliber. 



174 Book of the Black Bass. 

CHAPTER X. 

FISHING REELS. 

"And to that end, some use a wheel about the middle of the rod, 
or near their hand; which is to be observed better by seeing one 
of them, than by a large demonstration of words." — Izaak 
Walton. 

Next to a good rod there is nothing that contributes to 
the pleasure of the angler so much as a well-made reliable 
reel, and I am happy to be able to state that the improve- 
ments in fishing reels for black bass fishing have fully kept 
pace with the improvements in fishing rods. Manufactur- 
ers and inventors have taxed their ingenuity in devising 
the best and most suitable reels for both fly-fishing and 
bait-fishing, and the American reel, as the American rod, 
is to-day the ])cst in the world. 

The earliest mention of a fishing reel that I am aware 
of is that recorded in the "Compleat Angler "' by Izaak 
Walton, who states, as a matter of hearsay, that a " wheel " 
was sometimes placed about the middle of the rod for wind- 
ing up the line. He did not employ one himself, and 
probably never saw it used, or he would have been more 
explicit concerning it. The wheel mentioned was doubt- 
less a solid wooden one, of large diameter, with a deep 
groove in its peripheral border for the line. Such a winch 
is in common use to-day in England, and is known as 
the Nottingham reel. 

There are three kinds of reels employed in angling: the 
click reel, the multiplying reel, and the automatic reel. 

A fishing reel is made in accordance with the special 
service required of it, the objects of said service being 
twofold. The first and most important is the proper 



Fishing Reels. 175 

delivery of the bait in a manner and at a distance com- 
mensurate with the mode of fishing; and the second is to 
play and land the fish after he is hooked, or to reel the 
line for another cast. The reel which practically fulfills 
these conditions w^ith the greatest ease and facility, in the 
method of fishing practiced, is the best reel to use. 

The two modes of angling in which the reel is em- 
ployed are bait-fishing and fiy-fishing, and as the two 
methods differ so essentially, they require reels of widely 
different functions. Thus in bait-fishing the multiplying 
reel is used, while in fly-fishing the click reel is indis- 
pensable. 

The multiplying reel must not only be very rapid in its 
action, but the spool must revolve with the greatest ease 
and freedom, so as to deliver the bait as far as possible. at 
a single cast, the thumb, meanwhile, controlling the rapid 
rendering of the line, so as to prevent back-lashing of the 
spool; but in fl3^-fishing the line is lengthened gradually, 
a few feet being taken from the reel by the hand before 
each subsequent cast, while the click offers the necessary 
resistance to the rendering of the line to permit this to 
be done without overrunning. 

As the multiplying reel is made wide, so as to allow for 
the thumbing of the spool, and as this necessity is not 
required in the click reel, the latter is made quite narrow, 
thus permitting the line to be reeled without bunching, 
and, at the same time, allow of its being reeled rapidly 
enough for all practical purposes, without a multiplying 
action; for the main object of a multiplying reel, is for 
facility in casting, and not in retrieving the line, as is 
often erroneously supposed. 

After a fish is hooked, a click reel answers the purpose 
of playing, and landing it, as well as the best triple or 
quadruple multiplier made — if not better; for often a fish 



176 Book of the Black Bass. 

is reeled in by main strength with a multiplier, and an 
attem2:>t made to land it before it has been killed on 
the rod. thus curtailing the real sport of angling, and at a 
great risk to the angler's tackle. I speak of this now, for 
1 have heard anglers praising a rapid-working quadruple 
multiplying reel, because they could reel in a fish " so 
fast,^^ basing all of its merits upon this one quality; the 
desire to get possession of the fish seeming to be paramount 
to the real sport of hooking and playing it. 

Tpie Click Eeel. 

The click reel is a single-action reel, and, consequently, 
is the simplest form of reel, from the fact that the service 
required of it is simply a slow and gradual lengthening of 
the line with each subsequent cast, the delivery of the fly 
being accomplished by pulling off from the reel a few 
additional feet of the line after each cast, until the desired 
or maximum distance is reached, while the click offers just 
enough resistance to the rendering of the line to allow this 
to be done without confusion or overrunning. The handle, 
or crank, is connected directly with the axle, or shaft, 
and, consequently, " reeling in " the line would be slow 
work were it not obviated by the reel being made narrow, 
so that the coil of line upon the shaft enlarges rapidly, 
and the reeling is thus accomplished with greater facility. 

Its plan of construction is quite simple, and consists of 
a narrow spool set in a stationary frame, the spool revolving 
on a central shaft which has a handle at one end and a 
small spur wheel at the other. The spur wheel engages 
with a wedge-shaped pawl, which is held in place and con- 
trolled by a circular steel spring, allowing motion in either 
direction. This constitutes the so-called " click," the office 
of which is to retard to a certain extent the revolving of 
the spool. When the spool is rapidly revolving under the 



Fishing Reels. 



177 



rush of an active fish, the click fairly hums — a sound so 
pleasant to the angler's ear that it is not inaptly styled 
the " song of the reel." 

In my collection is a click reel made by J. L. Sage, of 
Lexington, Kentucky, in .1848, for black bass fishing, 
which he used for many years. It differs from the usual 
plan of click reels in having the spur wheel at the same 
end of the shaft as the handle, and the wheel is larger 
than customary. The circular spring is brass, Avhich pro- 
duces a soft musical sound, and one more agreeable than 
that of most click reels. 

Click reels are made of 
metal or of metal and hard 
rubber. The handle is either a 
plain crank or a balance-han- 
dle attached directly to the 
shaft, or, as in some instances, 
a revolving disk is affixed to 
the shaft, with a short knob- 
like handle on its outer rim. 
The latter form is the most 
powerful ; moreover the line is not so aj^t to become fouled 
on its short, smooth handle. Should one. of the screws 
that fastens the front disk-plate of 
the reel become loosened and project, 
as sometimes happens, it interferes 
with the free revolution of the 
crank; such a contingency is ob- 
viated by the revolving disk. Where 
a crank-handle is employed, there 
Fig. 2. sliould be a projecting rim, or safety 

Click Reel, wUh^Metal safety ^^^^^ ^-^^.^ ^^^.^^ ^^^ j^^^^j^ ^^^ 

volves, to prevent fouling of the line. 




Fig. 1. 
Click Reel, with revolving Disk. 



yf^^ 




178 



Book of the Black Bass. 




The 1)alance-handle is a delusion and a snare. There is 
no real advantage in it. In so light a piece of machiner}^ 

as a fishing reel, a balance- 
handle adds nothing to its ef- 
ficiency, while it is open to 
several objections, the most 
serious of which is the greater 
possibility of fouling the line 
as compared with the simple 
crank-handle. It is popularly 
su])posed to aid in the smooth 

Click Reel. witlfBalLe-Handle and '-^l^^l ^^^pid revolution of the 

Rubber Protective Kim. spool ; but if the reel is con- 

structed in a workmanlike manner, such aid is reduced to a 
minimum. It is one of those theories that is not borne out 
in practice. It was never designed by a practical angler. 

The click reel is placed at the extreme butt of the fly 
rod, below the hand-grij^ whore it adds 
much to tlie balance and general work- 
ing of the rod. As tlie click regulates 
the rendering of tlie line, and as the 
narrowness of the reel obviates the 
necessity for guiding the line in reel- 
ing, it is placed out of the way, at 
the extreme butt. It should always 
be placed imderneath the rod, and not 
on top, as is often done. 

Click reels are all constructed upon the same general 
principle, but are of various patterns and composed of 
various materials, being made of hard rubber, celluloid, 
brass, bronze, and German silver; their weight depends on 
the material used, and the angler has a large assortment 
of styles and prices to select from. Any good trout click 




Fishing Eeels. 179 

reel is suitable for black bass fly-fishing, and can be fur- 
nished by any of the first-class dealers. 

In the choice of a click reel, the angler should select 
the lightest, when it is compatible with strength, and one 
in which there is the least probability of fouling the line 
on any prominent points, as projecting screws and caps, un- 
protected handles, etc. Metal reels are the strongest, and 
not so liable to injury as rubber or' celluloid, in case of 
accidentally dropping, or striking them against rocks, etc. ; 
though the latter are much lighter, and with ordinary care 
are just as serviceable. 

There has been a very marked improvement in click 
reels during the past few years, the manufacturers seeming 
to vie with each other to produce the lightest, neatest, 
comeliest, and most serviceable reel. 

Multiplying Eeels. 

For bait-fishing the multiplying reel is a decided im- 
provement on the old single-action English reel or winch. 
It is made of metal or hard rubber, and of various styles 
or sizes. In shape and construction it differs necessarily 
from the click reel, having a different office to perform, or 
rather the same object — the delivery of the bait — to per- 
form in a different manner. Being intended for natural 
bait-fishing, it requires an easy-running and freely-render- 
ing action in order to deliver the bait as far as possible at 
a single cast. As there is no click to control the running 
off of the line, the thumb must be used for this purpose, 
by effecting a gentle and uniform pressure upon the spool, 
and for this reason the multiplier is made much wider than 
the click reel, or of the barrel or drum shape. 

The principle of construction of the multiplying reel 
consists of a small pinion on the end of the spool shaft, 
geared with a larger cog wheel attached to the crank. One 



180 Book of the Black Bass, 

revolution of the crank produces two, three, or four revo- 
lutions of the shaft, depending on the number of teeth in 
the wheels; thus, in a quadruple or four-time multiplier, 
there are, say, forty teeth in the wheel and ten teeth in 
the pinion. The multiplying reel is designed especially 
for casting a bait, and the better the construction of the 
reel, the longer the resultant, initial cast. 

All fine multiplying reels are now made with an adjust- 
able click, in order that they may be utilized for fly-fishing. 
Various devices are employed for the purpose. In some, 
the mechanism is on the back plate of the reel, as in the 
click reel, and is the same except that the pawl can be 

thrown in or out of gear 
by a sliding or turning but- 
ton. This is by far the 
best plan, as it can be 
operated while the reel is 
in motion. In other reels, 
the pawl engages with the 
pinion on the front plate. 
Fig. 5. and is thrown in gear by 

Multiplying Reel. the samc method as the 

other. In most Kentucky reels the click is used more as an 
alarm, though it can be utilized as well for fly-fishing if the 
spring is made stiff enough. It consists of a piece of watch 
spring, l^ent to a U-shape, and affixed to a block which is 
operated by a sliding button. The spring engages with the 
pinion on the front plate of the reel. Various forms of 
locks and drags are also applied to some multiplying reels, 
which, however, are only of fancied advantage. 

A good single-action reel, wdthout a click, will run almost 
as freely as a multiplying reel within certain limits, but the 
resultant cast will be a short one, as the momentum is 
soon exhausted. In the multiplier, however, the mo- 




Fishing Reels. 181 

mentum of the revolving spool is sustained and prolonged 
by the gearing of the reel^ thus allowing a much longer 
cast to be made. 

As stated at the beginning of this chapter there has been 
marked improvement in multiplying reels for black bass 
fishing, notably during the past ten 3'ears, manufacturers 
having exercised their inventive faculties in devising reels 
of superior workmanship, and with various devices for the 
convenience of the angler. 

The principal manufacturers for the trade are Julius 
vom Hofe, Brooklyn, N. Y. ; A. F. Meisselbach & Bro., 
Newark, N. J. ; The America Company, Eockford, 111. ; 
and the Andrew B. Hendrix Co., New Haven, Conn. The 
excellent reels of these firms are kept in stock by all 
prominent dealers. Where there are so many good reels 
comparisons are indeed odious, and moreover the price of 
one is not always a safe criterion of its 2:>ractical merits. 

In addition to the manufacturers for the trade there are 
the makers of special reels who sell directly to the angler. 
Of these the well-known hand-made reels of B. C. Milam 
& Son, Frankfort, Ky., and A. B. Meek & Sons, Louisville, 
Ky,, are necessarily highest in price owing to the quality 
of material, the faultless and exquisite workmanship, and 
the nicety of adjustment employed in their construction. 
They are now so favoral)ly known that a mere mention is 
only required here. 

The Milam reel has recently been improved by adding 
jewelled bearings in which a hole is drilled for the ends 
of the spool-shaft or pivots; an obvious advantage in les- 
sening friction and favoring freedom of action. 

The Meek reel, as now made, also runs on fine jewels of 
exceeding hardness. With its bevel gearing there is abso- 
lutely no lost motion and runs as smoothly as though the 
power from wheel to pinion was transmitted by a belt. In 



182 



Book of the Black Bass. 




all other respects it is unexcelled in its class — it is a work 
of art. The fortunate angler who possesses either a 
" Meek " or a " ]\Iilam ^' reel is to he congratulated. 

In this connection, and in view of these recent improve- 
ments, it is worthy of note that the personal and favorite 
reel of George Snyder, made in 1810, and which was at 
one time in my keeping, had garnet jewel bearings. 

One of the finest hand-made reels, with the latest 

improvements, is that 
of the W. II. I^albot 
Co., Nevada, Mo. It 
is made in several 
styles, of German sil- 
ver, with aluminum 
spool and handle, 
and jeweled bear- 
TaibotReei. i^gs. The action is 

remarkably free; ten or twelve grains will overcome the 
inertia of the sjwol. 

The '' Ilenshall " quadru])le-multiplying reel made by 
the T. II. Chul)l) Eod Company, Post Mills, A^ermont, is 
an improvement on the Ilenshall- Van Antwerp reel de- 
scribed in the first edition of this 1)Ook. As now made it 
is lighter, witli jeweled bearings and an adjustal)le click 
on the back jilate. It is made of German silver, and with 
its improved features is second to no other reel for noise- 
less, free and sustained action. It is well-made through- 
out and fully justifies all that is claimed for it by its 
makers. It will not disappoint the most exacting angler. 

Several manufacturers have introduced " take-down " or 
" take-apart " reels which can be readily taken apart with- 
out the aid of a screw-driver, a feature that will be appre- 
ciated by the angler. 



Fishing Keels. 



183 




No. 1. Henshall Reel.— (T. H. Chubb Rod Co.) 
No. 2. Meek Reel.— ( B. F. Meek & Sons. ) 
No. 3. Milam Reel.— (B. C. Milam & Son.) 



18^ 



Book of the Black Bass. 




I believe the first reel of this kind was the " President," 

made by Julius vom 
Hofe, which can be 
taken apart by loosen- 
ing a thumb-screw in 
the center of the back 
plate and the working 
parts readily exposed 
for cleaning or oiling. 
This fine multiplying 
reel is made of Ger- 
man silver and hard rulibcr, Avitli adjustable click on. the 
back plate, which can be oj^erated when the reel is in 
motion. 

The " Meisselbach " quadruple multiplying reel can be 
taken aj^art l)y unscrewing the metal band from tlie rubber 
cap of the front plate, 
whereby the spool is re- 
moved. As the large cog- 
wheel is very securely 
bridged in the cap, and 
the pinion cut on tlie 
spool-shaft, there are no Fig. 7. 

])arts to come loose when the reel is taken apart. A thumb- 
screw in the center of the back plate operates a new device 
whereby any degree of friction can be exerted on the spool, 
a feature of decided merit to one who can not " thumb " 
the reel in casting. It has a new and novel click, operated 
by a slide on the rim of the back plate, directly under the 
thumb of the angler ; it operates only when the line is being 
pulled off, and is silent when it is reeled in. 




Fishing Eeels. 



185 




1. Quadruple Multiplying Reel.— (Wm. Mills & Son.) 

2. Quadruple Multiplying Reel.— (The Andrew B. Hendrix Co.) 

3. Quadruple Multiplying Reel.— (Dame, Stoddard & Co.) 



186 



Book of the Black Bass. 




The take-apart reel of the America Company has several 
new features at once original and meritorious. The front 

plate has three pins fitting 
into three slots on the frame 
of the reel, so that a short 
turn to the left releases the 
front plate, with gearing and 
handle. When assembled it 
is secured by a spring button 
on the rim. The cog-wheel 
is bridged to the plate, and the pinion firmly affixed to the 
spool-shaft. A remarkal)le feature of this reel is that it is 
ball-bearing throughout. A stroke on the handle will cause 
the spool to revolve about a minute, the friction l)eing re- 
duced, to a minimum. It is made of a beautiful metal — 
satin-nickel, and an extra spool of German silver goes with 
each reel, on which an extra line can be carried to replace 
the one in the reel in case of a bad snarl of the line from 
over running. 

Other fine multi- 
plying reels in which 
a free-running ac- 
tion in casting is 
held to be the i)ara- 
mount feature, in 
addition to being 
thoroughly w e 1 1 - 
made of the best 
material, are the 
" Intrinsic '' of Wil- 




Fishing Keels. 



187 




Fig. 10. 



liam Mills & Son, the " Imbrie " of Abbey & Imbrie, 

and the '' Silver King " 

of Thos. J. Conroy, all of 

^N'ew York. These fine reels 

are all so Avell-known, and 

have been held in such high 

esteem for many years by 

the angling fraternity, that 

further mention of their 

merits seems needless. 

Another new feature of 
late years is a device for 
level winding of the line, when reeling it, in order to pre- 
vent its bunching on the spool. For those anglers who 
seem incapable of guiding the line on the spool with 
the finger or thumb, this device is, indeed, a welcome 
one. The first reel with this device was made by 
Wheeler & McGregor, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A trav- 
eler carries the line back 
and forth when being reeled, 
winding it on the spool in level 
layers, in much the same way as 
sewing cotton is wound on the 
spool. Since the reel was first 
made it has been improved by 
having a steel screw-shaft in 
place of bronze, a hardened steel eyelet on the traveler, 
and a better protector for the traveler guide. In casting 
there seems to be but little more friction engendered with 
this reel than one Avithout the spooling device; in other 
words as long a cast can be made, as less pressure with the 
thumb is required. 




Fig. 11. 



188 



Book of the Black Bass. 




Fici. 12. 



A device to accomplish the same end is made by A. W. 
Bishop & Sorij Eacine, Milwaukee^ which they term an 
" independent automatic spool- 
ing device/' which can be 
easily applied to an ordinary 
reel that has three-sixteenths of 
an inch between the hub band 
and the oil cap on the front 
plate. The device is made in 
three sizes to fit reels of corre- 
sponding lengths between the 
reel plates. It is operated by 
two pulleys connected by a rubber band, one pulley being 
attached to the handle of the reel by an ingenious clip. It 
works well if it fits the reel, and the same remarks concern- 
ing casting, with the reel previously mentioned, will apply 
in a measure to a reel fitted with this device. 

Still another device to aid the angler, who 
needs such assistance, is the drag handle, 
which creates friction enough to prevent the 
fish from taking line too fast; it substitutes 
the thumb of the angler when placed on the 
spool to accomplish the same purpose. A. B. 
Meisselbach & Brother make " The Gov- 
ernor," a friction device placed inside a 
balance handle, which may l)e fitted to any 
reel, by replacing the original handle. It 
can be adjusted to any amount of friction de- 
sired by the turning of the small screws on 
its disk. When playing a fish the angler 
holds the handle between his fingers, and 
when the fish ceases to pull he can reel it in 
in the usual way. 




Fishing Eeels. 



189 




Another device for the same 
purpose is the " Gem " drag 
handle furnished b}^ Malcolm A. 
Shipley, which operates in the 
same way as just described, 
though constructed on a different 
principle. The friction device 
consists of a thumb-screw con- 
taining a strong spiral spring, by 
which the desired amount of 
friction is exerted by simply turn- 
ing the thumb-screw. Both of 
the devices mentioned operate i 
by drawing the shaft of the spool 
against the handle. 

The following account of the history of the Kentucky 
Reel was contributed by me to the " Outing " Magazine, 
for December, 1900; it is reproduced here as a matter of 
record, no one else now living being in possession of the 
data : 

Evolution of the " Kentucky Eeel."* 

The multiplying fishing reel originated in Kentucky 
about the beginning of the Nineteenth Century. It has 
been asserted that it was first made in England, but \ have 
been unable to find any reference to it, even in the oldest 

*As Assistant Chief of the Fisheries Department of the Workl's 
Columbian Exposition, at Chicago, in 1893, I had charge of the 
Angling Building, and, among other exhibits, I had a collection 
of " Kentucky reels," embracing those of Snyder, the Meeks, Hard- 
man, Milam, Sage, and others. It showed the evolution of the 
reel from the old-fashioned, home-made wooden spool, mounted by 
the local tinsmith, to the fine productions of the present time. 
This article is based on that collection. The pen-drawings of the 
oldest reels are by Mr. Charles Bradford Hudson, except several 
by myself. 



190 Book of the Black Bass. 

British works on angling. It certainly has not been used 
there within my recollection. For a century the British 
angler has used the single-action reel for all branches of 
fishing. 

James Lane Allen has shown that the good people of 
the blue-grass region of Kentucky exhibit many of the dis- 
tinctive traits and customs of their English and Scotch- 
Irish ancestors; but in no feature is this heredity more 
pronounced than in their love for angling. With them, 
angling is the outward manifestation and practice of an in- 
herent and inherited attribute, and is in no sense a fad or 
hobby. 

Black-bass fishing, as an art. had its origin on the his- 
toric soil of Old Kentucky, in that particular portion 
known as " God's own country " — the blue-grass section. 
It was especially the counties of Fayette, Bourbon, Wood- 
ford, Scott and Harrison that were renowned for their 
skilled anglers, who fished the then famous streams of the 
Kentucky River, its tributary, the Elkhorn, and the Lick- 
ing, Stoner and other adjacent waters. 

At that time the Kentucky Eiver was a free-flowing 
stream, without dams l3otween Frankfort and its mouth. 
It abounded in black l)ass, pike-perch (called "salmon"), 
pike and occasionally a mascalonge. I have seen heads of 
the three last-named species from the Kentucky, Ohio and 
Tennessee rivers, preserved as trophies by old-time anglers, 
from fish which must have weighed almost forty pounds. 

^lost of these anglers were among the best and brightest 
and most intelligent and cultivated men of that period, 
who adorned the several professions or were the lordly 
proprietors of vast domains of perennial green. Among 
others may be mentioned the well-known Kentucky fam- 
ily names of Clay, Bedford, Hume, Brown, Morris, Bibb; 



FiSHiXG Eeels. 191 

Bacon, Holman, McCurdy, Mills, Ennis, Harvey, Blair, 
Crittenden, etc. 

The rods used by these pioneers of bass fishing con- 
sisted of the npjoer ten feet of a well-seasoned, light and 
straight native cane reed, weighing from four to six ounces 
when complete with guides and tip. The reel was lashed 
or seized to the butt of the rod, the reel-plate having 
holes in the ends for this purpose, as may be seen in 
some of the illustrations following. The line was that 
known as " sea-grass," though really raw silk, and the 
size the smallest made, or ^o. 1. It will be seen from 
this that the tools and tackle were as light, if not so 
suitable or elegant, as those of the present day. 

Mr. J. L. Sage, of Lexington, Ky., a veteran angler, 
who is still making " Kentucky reels," presented me with 
a click reel, and showed me his fly-rod and flies, all made 
and used by him as long ago as 1848; so that fly-fishing 
for black bass was practiced as early in Kentucky as in 
any other section of the country. 

At a ver}^ much earlier day, about 1810, there existed 
the Bourbon County x4ngling Club, of which George Sny- 
der, of Paris, Ky., was the president; 
and he it was who made the first '^ Ken- 
tucky reel," which has since become so 
famous, and in my opinion the first mul- 
tiplying reel in the world. Previous to 
this time the black-bass angler was com- ^- 
pelled to use the old single-action reel, Fm. is. 

n i? -r< T 1 1 "^ XI T Old Wooden Spool. 

usually ot English make, or the dis- 
carded spool from his wife's work-basket, when of large 
size, and mounted on a frame by the local tinsmith. 

Fig. 13. — Black wooden spool mounted on iron frame. Disk^ 
1% inches diameter; 1% inches between disks: flat iron crank with 
black wooden handle ; holes in ends of reel-phite for seizing to rod. 




193 Book of the Black Bass. 

To this day the octogenarian angler in Kentucky calls 
his reel a spool. Mr. Sage informed me that he had seen 
the spool used on the Cape Fear River, near Wilmington 
:N'. C, in 1839 and 1840. 

George Snyder was horn in the same connty as Daniel 
Boone — Bucks, Pa. He went to Paris, Ky., then called 
Hopewell, about 1803, and died there on February 10, 
1841, aged sixty years. He was a skillful watchmaker 
and silversmith; being a good practical angler, and see- 
ing the necessity for a rapid multiplying reel for black- 
bass fishing with the live minnoAV, he proceeded to invent 
one. Snyder's first reel was made for his own use, about 
1810. He afterward made reels for members of his club, 
and others. 

Some twenty years ago the late David M. Snyder, of 
Cynthiana, Ky. — the last surviving son of George Sny- 





FiG. 14. Fig. 15. 

G. Snyder's Owti Reel. G. Snyder's Own Reel Gearing. 

der — showed me a reel made by his father, in which the 
ends of the spool-shaft were beveled to points which fitted 
into beveled recesses of pivots that screwed into the center 
caps of the outer disk-plates of the reel. By this com- 
pensating device any wear could be readily taken up, or the 

Fig. 14. — George Snyder's own reel, made of brass, in 1810. 
Disk-plates, 1% inches diameter; length of spool, 1% inches. 
Marked in script " G. Snyder " and stamped " G. S." The shaft 
rims on garnet jewels. This reel is in the possession of his grand- 
son, R. J. Snyder, of Louisville, Ky. 

Fig. 15. — George Snyder's own reel gearing. Brass lock spring, 
silver alarm spring. 



FiSHiXG Eeels. 



193 



running of the reel regulated by a turn of these screw 
pivots. 

It will be noticed, perhaps, that all of the Snyder reels 
figured are quite narrow in diameter of the spool, and also 
much longer than in those of the present day. This is in 
accordance with the fact that a long, narrow spool runs 

more rapidly, all 
^'^> things being equal, 

than where the 
spool is short and 
of greater diame- 
ter. I have seen 
but one Snyder reel 
of large size, which 
was no doubt em- 
ployed for large 
i^sh, as mascalonge, pike and the so-called '* salmon " 
(pike-perch or wall-eyed pike). This reel is shown in 




Fifi. 1(3. 
Large Snyder Reel, Front View, 





Fig. ir. 
Large Snyder Reel, Back View. 



Fig. 18. 
Large Snyder Reel Gearing. 



the illustrations. Jts peculiarities are a curiouslv-shaped 
flat lever, for operating the alarm spring by means of a 

Fig. 16. — Brass reel made by Geo. Snyder about 1820. Disk- 
plates, 2% inches diameter; length of spool, 2% inches. 

Fig. 17. — Showing back disk-plate with drag-spring outside. 

Fig. 18. — Showing gearing. Steel wheel with 32 leaves; steel 
pinion with 8 teeth, a quadruple multiplier. 
13 



19-i 



Book of the Black Bass. 



pin working in a cnrvGd slot, and the flat brass drag- 
spring, which is on the ontside of the back disk-plate. I 
imagine it was i^laced there to allow of its being used while 
the reel was running, which would prove quite an ad- 
vantage \\'hile playing a large fish. This reel is in the 
possession of ^Ir. R. J. Snyder, of Louisville, Ky., who 
says it is one of the oldest reels made by his grandfather. 

A very interesting reel is one made by George Snyder, 
in 182], for Plon. Brutus J. C'la}', who was a member of 
Congress in 18G4. It is now owned by his son, Mr. C. F. 
Cla3% of Bourbon County, Ky., and is still in good condi- 
tion, though it has been used by Mr. Clay and his father 
for nearly seventy years. It is marked in script, " G. S., 





Fig. 19. 
Clay's Snyder Reel. 



Fig. 20. 
Clay's Snyder Reel 
Gearing. 



Feb. 1, 1821." This, like most of George Snyder's reels, 
has the steel ends of the spool-shaft projecting through 
holes in the center of the disk-plate. Also, as in all of 
Snyder's reels, the pillars are rivet-ed to the back plate, and 
project through the inner front plate, where they are se- 
cured by wire keys. 

Another reel made by George Snyder, not later than 
1825, is reproduced to show a peculiar feature, one that 
I have never seen before nor since in a " Kentucky reel," 



Fig. 19. — Reel made by George Snyder in 1821; brass, in good 
condition; l^/^ inches in diameter; length, P/^ inches. 

Fig. 20. — Gearing. Brass wheel with 21 leaves; steel pinion 
with 7 teeth ; triple multiplier. 



FiSHixG Eeels. 



195 



and that is the absence of both drag and alarm. There is 
nothing but the lock-stop, whereby a pin in the flat brass 
spring drops into a hole in the spool-disk. I cannot con- 
ceive how a Kentucky angler of the olden time could be 





Fig. 21. 
Snyder Reel. 



Fig. 22. 
Snyder Reel Gearing. 



content to fish without an alarm spring to his reel ! I am 
free to saj^, however, that of all of Snyders reels which 
I have seen I prefer this one, for, personally, I have no 
use for either drag, click, alarm or lock in a multiplying 
reel. 





Fig. 23. 
J. & C. Snyder Reel. 



Fig. 24. 
Massie's Reel Gearing. 



Fig. 21. — This reel was made sometime between 1818 and 1822. 
It is of brass, like all of Snyder's reels. It is in excellent con- 
dition to-day. Diameter, 1% inches; length, 1^ inches. 

Fig. 22. — Gearing. Brass wheel with 24 leaves; multiplies S*^ 
times. 

Fig. 23.— Brass reel stamped "J. & C. Snyder." Diameter, 1% 
inches; length of spool, 1% inches; multiplies four times. 

Fig. 24. — Gearing of brass reel made by Charles Snyder for 
present OA\Tier, Mr. W. W. Massie. Diameter, 2% inches; between 
disks, 2 5/16 inches. Alarm is operkted by a bent arm of steel 
wire, which is moved by a small block attached to an outside 
oblonff slide. 



196 



Book of the Black Bass. 



After Snyder's death two of his sons, John and Charles 
Snyder, succeeded to his business, and they made a few 
reels. One is now in my possession, and I have seen but 
one other, owned by Mr. W. W. Massie, of Paris, Ky. The 
latter is stamped " G. S.,'' but was made by Charles Snyder 
expressly for Mr. Massie, who saw him at various times at 
work on it. Both reels were made between 1841 and 1844. 

The next person to turn his attention to reel making, 
after the elder Snyder, was Jonathan Fleming Meek, also 
a skilful Avatchmaker. He went from Danville, Ky., to 
Frankfort, about 1833, where he made his first reel for 
Hon. Mason Brown, of Frankfort, a noted jurist of his 




Higgins' J. F. Meek 
Reel, Frout View. 



Higgiiis' J. F. Meek 
Reel, Back View. 



Fig. 27. 

Higgins' J. F. Meek 

Reel Gearing. 



day, and a devoted angler. Judge Brown, having had 
his Snyder reel borrowed or stolen just at a time when the 
bass began to bite their best, prevailed on Mr. Meek to 
make him one. 

At an early day there were quite a number of Ken- 
tuckians who oAvned plantations in Mississippi, Louisiana 



Fig, 25. — Brass reel made by J. F, Meek about 1840. In fair 
condition, perfectly plain. Diameter, 1% inches; length, 1% 
inches. 

Fig. 26. — Showing back disk-plate of No. 25. 

Fig. 27. — Gearing. Steel wheel with 34 leaves; steel pinion 
with 8 teeth; multiplies a little more than four times. 



FiSHIXG PiEELS. 



197 



and Arkansas, but spent their summers in Kentucky. Two 
of the Meek reels shown were made for such parties. One 
for Mr. E. Higgins, of LexingtDn, a Mississippi planter, 
the other for "Mr. D. Yertner, a Louisiana planter. The 
latter reel is now in the possession of his granddaughter, 
Mrs. Alexander Jeffrey, of Lexington, Ky. 

These reels, it will be observed, are improvements in 
some respects on the Snyder reels. There is a collar 
around the crank-shaft ; the ends of the spool-shaft do not 
project, and the alarm and drag-springs are operated by 
sliding buttons, as in the modern reel. 





Fig. 28. 

Vertner's J. F. Meek Reel, 
Front View. 



Fig. 29. 

Vertner's J. F. Meek Reel, 
Back View. 



It seems that about the time that Jonathan F. Meek 
made his lirst reel, in 1833, or soon after, at least one 
reel was made by Theodore Xoel, also a watchmaker of 
Frankfort. 

J. F. Meek continued to make reels until about 1840, 
when he formed a partnership with his brother, B'enjamin 
F. ^Feek, who was likewise a fine watchmaker. After this 
the reels were made by B. F. Meek, and stamped " J. F. 
& B. F. Meek." 



Fig. 28. — Solid silver reel made by J. F. Meek about 1840. In 
good condition. Diameter, 1^2 inches; length, 1 15/16 inches. 

Fig. 29. — Back disk-plate of No. 28. Gearing about same as 
No. 27. The pillars are made arching instead of straight. 



198 



Book of the Black Bass. 



a very fine workman and expert 
watchmaker^ of Louisville, Ky., named J. W. Hardman, 
began making multiplying reels for black-bass fishing. 
His reels were a great improvement on those previously 
made by others. He shortened the spool and increased the 
diameter, afhxed the pillars to the disk-plates by screws 
instead of riveting, added some ornamentation, and al- 




FiG. 30. 
Mr. Benjamin F. Meek. 

together made the first true and substantial improvements 
in the " Kentucky reel," both as to its practicability and 
appearance, and these were followed thereafter by all other 
makers. The " Kentucky reel " to-day bears testimony to 
his unmistakable genius and fine handiwork. The Hard- 
man, reel illustrated is the property of Mr. J. F. Speed, 
of Louisville, Ky., and is in excellent condition. It was 
made about 1845, and is a very handsome piece of work, 
of German silver. The sliding buttons are gold-plated, as 



Fishing Reels. 



199 



are the screws. The ornamentation is very fine and work- 
manlike. 

Mr. Benjamin C. Milam, whose name is almost synony- 
mous with the '^ Kentucky reel/' w^ent to Frankfort, Ky., 





Fig. 
Hardman Reel. 



Fig. 32. 
Hardman Reel Gearing. 



in 1835, and worked awhile with Beverly Noel, a watch- 
maker, a hrother to Theodore Noel, previously mentioned. 
He visited Paris, Ky., in 1836, and saw George Snyder 

and his reels. In this 
same 3'ear he engaged as 
an apiDrentice to J. F. 
]\Ieek, and it was not long 
before the reel making 
was given over to him and 
13. F. Meek, when the lat- 
ter came into the firm. 

The Meek brothers dis- 
solved partnership about 
1851, Jonathan going to 
Louisville, but returning 
again to Frankfort just 
before his death in 1884. 
Mr. Be.famin''c. Milam. After the withdrawal of 

Fig.' 31. — C4erman silver reel made by J. W. Hardman. Diam- 
eter, 2 1/16 inches; length, 2 inches. 

Fig. 32. — Gearing of No. 31. Pinion has 10 cogs; wheel, 40; 
quadruple multiplier. 




200 



Book of the Black Bass. 



J. F. Meek, the firm became Meek & Milam, which in 
turn was dissolved at the end of five years, though the 
former partners continued to occupy the same store, 
Milam devoting himself to making reels, while B. F. 
Meek took the watchmaking and jewelry business. All 
reels made by Mr. Milam continued to be stamped " Meek 
& Milam '^ until 1878, when he used his own stamp of 
" B. C. Milam.'' In later years, having trained his son 
to the trade, he took him into his business under the firm 
name of B. C. Milam <& Son, which is continued to the 
present time. 





Fig. 34. 
Meek & Milam Reel. 



Fig. 35. 
Meek & Slilam Reel Gearing. 



TJierc were a few reels with so-called '^ centrifugal gear- 
ing '' made at an early date by B. F. Meek, a Mr. Barbour, 
of Georgetown, Ky., and B. C. Milam. Among the reels 
I exhibited at the Chicago World's Fair was a very elab- 
orate and ornamental one of solid silver, made by B. F. 
Meek, about 1846, for an artist of 'New Orleans, T. S. 
Mayeau. A novel feature of this reel was the " bell-click," 
made upon the same principle as the repeating watch. 



Fig. 34. — Brass reel made by B, C. Milam and stamped " Meek 
& Milam No. 1." In excellent condition. Diameter, 1% inches; 
length, 1 5/16 inches. 

Fig. 35. — Gearing is essentially as made to-day. Pinion has 10 
teeth; cog-wheel, 40; quadruple multiplier. 



Fishing Reels. 



201 



whereby the artist-angler could really enjoy the " music 
of the reel/'' the two bells being tuned in thirds. 

The peculiar mechanism of the reel is the application 
of the principle of the epicycloidal wheel, whereby recip- 
rocating motion is converted into circular motion. Wh^e 
the power of this plan of gearing is greater than in the 
ordinary reel with two wheels, the friction is also too great 
for casting; consequently it was abandoned. 

An old reel stamped " Meek & Milam " was exhibited 
in my collection, made somewhere about 1844, and is 
shown in the accompanying illustrations. The pillars 




Fig. 36. 
Diagram of epicycloidal wheel. 




ure still of the Snyder plan, as also the long narrow spool. 
The improvements are a collar to crank-shaft, sliding but- 
tons for alarm and drag, and a better shape to front disk- 
plate. Here we have for the first time the bent or 
IT-shapcd alarm spring formed of a piece of watch spring. 
Tt will be further observed that with the exception of the 
ornamental bars or pillars of the Hardman reel, this reel 
is a close imitation of it in its general form, in the sliding 
Imttons and their screws, in the collar and the retaining 
screw of the crank. A strong resemblance is also seen 



Fig. 36. — Gearing of epicycloidal wheel. 

Fig. 37. — Bell click, showing bells and hammers. 



202 Book of the Black Bass. 

in the gearing, more es2:)eciall3^ in the sliding blocks and 
drag-spring. 

M. J. L. Sage, of Lexington, Kv., but previously of 
Frankfort, was also an early maker of the " Kentucky 
reel,'^ and I am satisfied that he was the first to make a 




Fig. 38. 
Mr. J. L. Sage. 

click reel, in Kentucky, for black-bass fly-fishing, of which 
branch of angling he was one of the pioneers. I have the 
smallest and neatest " Kentucky reel " I have ever seen ; 
it was made by Mr. Sage. 

In 1883, Mr. B. F. Meek went to Louisville, Ky., where 
he entered on a new era of reel making. He formed a 
partnership with his two sons. He made a new departure 
in the gearing of the reel, which he called the " spiral 



Fishing Keels. 203 

gear.'' This consists in cutting the teeth of the wheel and 
pinion obliquely or diagonally, instead of horizontally. 
The space between the teeth, at their base, is also cut 
rounding, instead of liat or square. 

Other makers of the " Kentucky reel " are Geo. W. Gayle, 
of Frankfort, and James Deally, of Louisville. The reel 
as now made is still j^rincipally for black bass fishing, 
though larger sizes are furnished for striped bass and 
tarpon. 



In connection with the foregoing account I wdsh to 
add that before Snyder's day, the black bass anglers of 
Kentucky used the single action reel, and sometimes a 
wooden thread-spool mounted on a brass or iron frame 
as mentioned. Many years ago a gentleman named Lewis 
owned an estate called " Llangollen," a few miles from 
Frankfort, Kentucky, on the banks of the classic Elk- 
horn, then a famous black bass stream. He was a sports- 
man of the old school and a frequent contributor to Skin- 
ner's "American Turf Eegister and Sporting Magazine," 
and later of Porter's " Spirit of the Times." He was the 
owner of an old spool similar to the one figured which he 
left in 1842 with Mr. Sage for repairs, and said that he 
l^rought it from his old home at Wytheville, Virginia, and 
had used it for many years. He preferred it to the mul- 
tiph'ing reels then being made in Kentucky, and used it 
for bait-fishing, as well as for fly-fishing. — a striking 
illustration of that prejudice, called by courtesy conser- 
vatism, of the British angler, for he was no doubt of Welsh 
extraction judging from his name and the title of his es- 
tate. The old spool figured may be the one alluded to, as 
it came from the archives of Mr. J. L. Sage, an old Ken- 



204 



Book op the Black Bass. 



tucky reel maker, who has recently joined the great ma- 
jority across the silent river. 

As an interesting relic the gaff-hook used by George 
Snyder in connection with the large reel described, is here 
figured. It is in possession of his grandson, and was doubt- 
less employed to gaff the immense pike-perch, pike and 
mascalonge that were found in the Kentucky Eiver at an 
early day. It is about six inches in length and nearly two 
inches across the bend. 




George Snyder's Gaff-Hook. 



FiSHiXG Lines. 205 



CHAPTER XI. 

FISHING LINES. 

" I will lose no time, but give you a little direction how to make 
and order your lines, and to color the hair of which you make 
your lines, for that is very needful to be known of an angler." — 
IzAAK Waltox. 

Eeel Lines for Casting the Minnow. 

A BAIT line for casting a minnow should, in the first 

place, be composed of the ver}^ best material, which, in 

this case, is raw silk. It should be of very small caliber, 

the smallest that can be made consistent with strength, and 



Size G. = 
F. = 



-'^'^--' ^ri-.-p.^r--'--^--:^— =-^^=''- --^^ ''^-- 



raw silk fulfills this condition tetter than any other mate- 
rial. It should be very hard, compact, and closely braided. 
These conditions secure a line that renders freely and 
easil}', is quite elastic, and at the same time absorbs but 
little water, and will not kink or snarl in casting. The line 
should, moreover, be tinted some suitable color, to render 
it as nearly invisible as possible, for it must be remembered 
that we cannot use a gut leader in casting the minnow. 

The best line, then, we will say, is the braided, or plaited 
raw silk line, of the smallest caliber, for ordinary fishing; 
but where the bass average fully three pounds, the next 
largest size may be used, though I would advise the smaller 



306 Book of the Black Bass. 

line even here to be employed in preference. Raw silk lines 
require the greatest care to preserve their nsefnlness. They 
should he carefully dried after use, as soon thereafter as 
possible, for without this caution they soon become weak 
and rotten. And, moreover, a reel-line, for bait-fishing, 
should never be waterproofed with any preparation that in- 
creases its caliber or decreases its pliability, for this can 
only be done with great detriment to the line, as regards 
casting. 

Xext best to the raw silk line is the braided boiled silk 
line, or, as sometimes called, the dressed silk line. This is 
a good line when plaited hard and closely, but most of 
them are too loosely braided, in which case they absorb 
Avater quite freely, wliich develops an annoying propensity 

4- *■ ■•■■■■-• ■'-■---•-•^'"-'-'■'-^- ■-■ - r -v- - -*jy— -S-ti.^ - - ; - " ^jv-.. . g» e.i-M 
5» ^^■rf■.^^^.^■^T I 1 ... hlf ■■'■■■ ^mn.u i.i.ujj ! j- - a!. -■■niw 

of clinging to the rod in casting, and interferes somewhat 
with the free rendering of the line. They are made of 
good stock, however, and are quite strong, and nicely 
tinted. The boiled silk line should be as well cared for, 
and as carefully dried, after use, as the raw silk line, and 
for the same reasons. 

The braided linen line is a very good one, in one respect 
better than the silk, being quite hard and closely plaited, 
but the caliber is too large. The smallest size now made 
is too great for a reel-line for black bass bait-fishing. 
Where the bass run very large, however, as in lake fishing, 
or in the extreme south, the smallest size may be employed 
with, satisfaction. It will last longer than the silk line. 



Fishing Lines. 207 

and will bear rougher and more careless usage. It is much 
heavier, however, is not so elastic, and, therefore, not 
so desirable a line, in these respects, as the silk line. The 
onl}^ size to use is G, or 5. 

The above are the onh^ lines that I can recommend for 
bait-fishing for black bass, where much casting is prac- 
ticed, for braided lines are the onl}^ lines that will not 
kink and curl. Xo twisted or cable-laid line can be profit- 
ably employed for this purpose, on account of this kinking 
propensit}', which, to the angler, is a source of great 
trouble, vexation, and perplexity; and there is no method 
by which the kink can be entirely removed or eradicated 
from twisted lines. Some anglers maintain that this kink- 
ing quality can be taken out of a line b}^ trailing it in the 
water behind a boat, without sinker or hook; but this is a 
delusion and a snare, for after casting a line a few times 
in succession that has been treated in this manner for 
hours, it will kink and snarl as badly as over, and this is 
to be naturally expected, from the mode of manufacturing 
such lines. It is unreasonable, moreover, to expect a 
twisted line to perform the functions of a l^raided one, for 
this it can not do. 

In the first edition of this book I made the statement 
that the perfect line for black bass bait-fishing was yet in 
the future, and suggested how a much better line than any 
in use could be made, and expressed the hope that such a 
line would soon be produced, as I had invited the attention 
of the extensive fishing line manufacturing concern of the 
Henry Hall, Jr., Company, of Highland Mills, ^N". Y., to 
the matter. 

I am glad to state that suitable lines were shortly after- 
ward manufactured by the said company, in response to 
those suggestions, and have been in the market for many 



208 Book of the Black Bass. 

3'ears. These lines seem to be all that can be desired as 
reel-lines in bait-fishing, for which the bass fisher is to 
be congratulated. 

The lines just alluded to are styled letter " H/'' or No. 6 
in size; and while they are a thii'd less in caliber than the 
" G," or Xo. 5 line, they seem to contain the same amount 
of stock, and to be fully as strong, but being more closely 
braided they are much smaller in size, and more compact. 
They absorb but little water, and consequently rej^er very 
freely in casting the minnow. Owing to th^demand 
created for the " H '' line, other manufacturers s^n began 
making them. ^ 

They can now he had in several styles, and of the best 
selected dressed and raw silk. The dressed or 
E r o M boiled silk line is very firm and light, weighing 
not quite two grains to the yard — one hundred 
yards weighing one hundred and eighty-five 
grains. It is of the same caliber as the No. 1 
sea-grass line, and fully as strong, sustaining a 
strain of eight pounds. 

The raw silk line is very hard and compact, 
and a trifle heavier than the boiled silk line, 
weighing about two and one-third grains to the yard, or 
two hundred and thirty-five grains to a hundred yards. 
It is mottled in color, like most raw silk lines. It sustains 
a dead weight of ten pounds, which is at least three times 
the strength actually required with a pliant rod. I have 
often killed bass averaging three pounds with a line that 
would not sustain more than a pound, dead weight. 

This line is also made waterproof by a new process, 
which does not detract in any way from its use as a bait 
line, as the waterproofing does not diminish its flexibility 
or softness in anv decree — a result that had before been 



Fishing Lines. 209 

impossible to obtain, as all waterproof lines were too stiff 
and unyielding for minnow-casting. 

The process of waterproofing, however, makes the line 
perfectly black in color, which at first sight might be 
deemed an objection by some. But I have experimented 
with it in nmnerous practical tests, alternating with lines 
of lighter tints, and have never discovered that it made 
the slig'htest difference to the fish. And if we will reflect 
a moment, and hark back to our youthful experience in 
angling, when we fished for fingerling trout, shiners, 
gudgeons, or sunfish, with black sewing silk for lines, or in 
our adolescent days, when we made our own lines for black 
bass fishing, by twisting together two or three strands of 
sewing silk — we somehow always preferred black silk — 
and we were just as successful in luring the wily bass 
with those somber, home-made lines, as we were after the 
braided, light-tinted lines came into vogue. 

Mr. Malcolm A. Shipley, Philadelphia, furnishes a black 
line of this character, size H, which is closely-braided, 
waterproof, and very strong, while being soft and pliable. 

Messrs. Abbey & Imbrie, Xew York, furnish a size G 
line of Italian silk, closely-braided, of a mottled tint of 
black and red, a remarkably strong line, and quite pliable. 
Their 'No. 90 organzine sericum braided line is very strong, 
being tested to fourteen pounds, though about H in size; 
its color is black. 

Messrs. William Mills & Son, New York, furnish a drab, 
waterproof, hard-braided silk line, which they style the 
" Record." It is made in three sizes for minnow casting, 
G, H, and a still smaller size for tournament work. The 
best caliber for the angler is H, though I prefer the tourna- 
ment line for my own use. 

I have thoroughly tried the lines mentioned above, and 
14 



210 



Book of the Black Bass. 



can rec'ommend their use for strength, pliability and all 
the necessary features that are essential in a minnow-cast- 
ing line. 

Eeel-Lines for Fly-fishing. 
The reel-line for fly-fishing must necessarily be heavier 
than the line used in bait-fishing, the greater weight of 
the former being required to cast objects so light and deli- 
cate as artificial flies; while in the case of the small and 
light bait-line, the minnow, swivel and sinker give the 







! 

1 


























\ 




1 



E 



required weight for casting. Increased weight is obtained 
by increase of the caliber of the line, so a fly-line is conse- 
quently of a larger size than a bait-line. 

In days long gone the twisted or plaited hair, and hair 
and silk, lines were employed altogether by the best anglers 
for fly-lines, but they have been entirely superseded by the 
really elegant tapered and enameled waterproof braided 
silk line. The latter is the line jmr excellence for all kinds 
of fly-fishing, being smooth, round, polished and perfectl)^ 
waterproof, and is just stiff and heavy enough to favor a 
perfectly straight cast, without looping or kinking, quali- 
ties tliat are peculiarly essential to this mode of angling. 



Fishing Lines. 311 

Those veterans who have used the old-fashioned fly-lines, 
are prepared to speak feelingly and appreciatively concern- 
ing the great superiority and excellence of this line. 

They are made in several sizes for salmon, black bass 
and trout fishing; are very strong and serviceable, and, 
for black bass angling, can be purchased in lengths of from 
twenty-five to thirty yards. They are usually fashioned 
with a regular and gradual taper for several yards to the 
fly-end, the fly-end being only about one-half the caliber 
of the reel-end. Some lines, and which is the best way, 
taper both ways from the middle. They are usually 
stained of a greenish-olive hue, which harmonizes well 
with the tints of the water, sky and foliage. From twenty- 
five to thirty yards is the right length, and the size should 
be either F or G, which corresponds with Nos. 4 and 5, 
some dealers designating the sizes by letters, others by 
numerals. 

Kext best to the tapered enameled silk line is the oiled, 
braided silk line ; though this is not tapered, it is a good, 
strong and useful line, and is used by many anglers in 
preference to all others. It is tinted of a similar shade to 
the enameled line, and altogether is a very satisfactory fly- 
Jine, being heavy enough, and, withal, cheaper than the 
tapered line. Letters E and F, or Nos. 3 and 4, are suit- 
able sizes. 

Next in order is the braided linen line, either water- 
proof or plain. Where economy in price is the necessary 
object, this is the best line to select, though the angler 
should bear in mind that the best is the cheapest, for he 
knows full well that to no other class of goods does this 
maxim apply with more force than to fishing-tackle. This 
line is strong, firm and round, and is capable of long and 
hard service, if proper care is taken to dry it thoroughly 



212 



Book of the Black Bass. 



always after using. It is well adapted for making a nice, 
straight cast, and will not curl or kink. It is usually 
stained a light shade of slate, or a grayish drab. Letter 
F, or No. 4, is about the right size. 

Some fly-fishers use the ordinary braided raw or boiled 
silk lines, which, while being the best lines for bait-fish- 
ing, are not so well adapted for fly-lines, on account of 
their light weight; the medium sizes, however, answer 
tolerably well. Letter E, or No. 3, is the correct size, 
when used for black bass fly-fishing. 

All fishing lines that are not absolutely w^aterproof 
should l3e carefully dried after use; and even waterproof 
lines would be much benefited by 
an airing before putting them 
away. Even the best lines become 
weak and worthless through a 
want of proper and judicious 
treatment. It is impossible to 
make a line that is indestructible, 
or proof against mildew or rot, 
thougli many anglers seem to 
til ink to the contrary, judging 
from the shiftless and reprehensi- 
l)le manner in which they use 
them ; then, when the line fails, 
they l)lame the manufacturer. 

Any reputable and responsible 

dealer can furnish good lines for 

fly-fishing, but among those I have 

o F E used I can conscientiously mention 

the following: 

The " Hercules ^' waterproof, enameled line furnished 

])y Mr. Thomas J. Conroy, New York, is one of much merit, 



Fishing Lixes. 213 

being perfectly smooth, hard, evenly braided, and void of 
any tendency to stickiness, a quality that will be appreci- 
ated by those who have used inferior lines. 

Abbey & Imbrie, Xew York, offer a tapered fly-line, 
No. 57, which is simply unexcelled in every way. It em- 
bodies all the essential qualities of a fly-casting line, being- 
smooth, strong, and of uniform excellence throughout. 

When in England, I examined the best English fly-lines, 
but there was nothing that could compare to those of 
American manufacture. London dealers showed me, with 
much pride, the metal-center line, which they claimed to be 
the best fly-line in the world. 

The advantage claimed for the metal-center line is that 
it can be used of a smaller caliber and still retain the same 
weight as a larger line; and at the same time it is prob- 
ably a little stronger, though for that matter any of the 
enameled lines are strong enough. 

The metal center consists of an extremely small copper 
wire, around which the line is braided. The wire is so fine 
that it does not stiffen the line to an appreciable degree, as 
might be imagined. As the line is so thoroughly water- 
proof, there is not much probability of the wire becoming 
oxidized or rusted. 

EOD-LlNES. 

The twisted line has its proper place in fishing, and 
sometimes answers a good purpose, as I will now mention. 
There are many anglers who, from choice or necessity, dis- 
pense with the reel in black bass fishing. Oftentimes the 
character of the stream is such that a reel can not be used 
to advantage; for instance, on streams that are narrow, 
and much choked with snags, roots, and other obstructions, 
that preclude the playing of a fish, a reel is not necessary, 
for the fish must be killed within a few feet of where 



214 Book of the Black Bass. 

it was hooked, and must, of a necessity, be landed as soon as 
possible. 

In this case, a long, light, and pliable — but not too 
limber — rod must be used, say a natural cane pole, twelve 
or even fifteen feet long, with the finest and smallest line 
that can be procured, which, in this case, is the twisted 
silk line. This line is made of very small caliber, nicely 
tinted, of a suitable color, and is quite strong. It is manu- 
factured in connected lengths of fifteen feet, which is 
about the right length of line for this kind of angling. The 
sizes run from No. 1, the smallest, up to No. 5, the largest. 
The smallest, or No. 1, is the size to use, always, when 
fishing on streams; but for pond or lake fishing, where 
pickerel abound. No. 2 or 3 may be substituted. 

Next to the silk line, in order of merit, comes the twisted 
or relaid sea-grass line, domestic or Japanese, the latter 
being the best. They are numbered in the same way as 
the silk line, No. 1 being the smallest size, and the prefer- 
able size to use. Many anglers, notably in the border and 
southern states, use the sea-grass line for a reel-line, in 
preference to all others, because it is strong, of small cali- 
ber, quite hard and elastic; and, as they do not cast very 
frequently, it answers pretty well, but, as stated before, 
will kink when much casting is practiced. The sea-grass 
line is both twisted and relaid, the latter being the best, 
as it does not kink quite so badly as the twisted line. In 
relaid lines, the strands are three in number, each strand 
being twisted from left to right, and the strands twisted 
together in the opposite direction, or from right to left. 

On the score of economy, twisted flax and cotton lines 
are sometimes used for rod-lines; but they are beneath the 
notice of the black bass angler, as the sizes are too large 
to be used for this purpose. 



r 



FiSHlKG LlXES. 215 

Hand-Lines for Trolling. 
There are many persons who can not, or will not, nse a 
fishing-rod, but who greatly enjoy trolling with the hand- 
jine and spoon-bait for black bass. For the benefit of 
these unfortunates, I will say that the only line suitable 
for the purpose is a braided or plaited linen or cotton line, 
size C or D ( 1 or 2 ) . Such lines are large enough to pre- 
vent cutting the hands, and they will not kink or twist, 
qualities that are peculiarly essential for this kind of fish- 
ing. A twisted line, of any material, is inadmissible here, 
for the revolving of the spoon, if a swivel is not used, will 
cause even a braided line to twist on itself and kink ; there- 
fore, one, or even two, swivels should always be attached 
to, and near, the spinning-bait. A trolling hand-line should 
be from twenty-five to fifty yards long. 



316 Book of the Black Bass. 

CHAPTER XII. 

SILK-WORM GUT. 

" But if yon can attain to angle with one hair, — you shall have 
more rises, and catch more fish." — Izaak Walton. 

The material of which leaders and snells are composed 
is a mystery to many anglers. It is eminently fitted for 
the purposes mentioned, being as nearly invisible as any 
substance can well be, and at the same time is quite strong 
and impermeable to water. 

It is really the " fluid silk " of the silk-worm {Bomhyx 
mori), drawn out into a continuous length. This fluid 
silk, which in its natural state resembles colorless varnish, 
is contained in two long cylindrical sacs, many times the 
length of the worm, and which are capable of being un- 
folded by immersion in water, when the fluid silk can be 
drawn out into filaments, longer or shorter, coarse or fine, 
as may be desired. 

Most of the silk-worm gut is produced in Spain, and 
some in Italy. When the worm is about to spin its cocoon 
it is killed by being immersed in vinegar, which ]3erhaps 
has also some effect on the viscid fluid in the sacs. These 
sacs are then stretched, the fluid being drawn out until 
the proper length is obtained, when the two ends are wound 
around pins driven into a frame. Afterward the adhering 
skin or membrane is stripped off, leaving the gut fibre 
white and glistening. It is then sorted according to thick- 
ness and quality and tied in bunches. The various grades 
are known to the trade by Spanish names. 

It has long been known that from the larvae of several 
species of our native silk- worm moths, much longer strands 



SiLK-WoKiiL Gut. 217 

of gut, for leaders, can be produced, than from the Chinese 
silk-worm; but, while strands of satisfactory lengths have 
been frequently taken, there seems to be a •want of some 
special knowledge, or a lack of some peculiar skill in the 
proper treatment or manipulation of the larvae, or the silk- 
glands, or in the drawing out of the fluid silk, in order to 
produce the silken strands of the desired strength. 

Dr. Theodatus Garlick, one of the fathers of fish culture 
in the United States, stated that he had produced strands 
of from four to six feet in length from the cecropia moth 
(Platysamia cecropia), which was strong enough for salmon 
fishing. 

Among those who have been interested in the matter is 
Mr. Chas. F. Orvis, of Manchester, Vermont, who, having 
procured a number of cocoons of the two species of native 
silk-worms, Platysamia cecropia and Telea polyphemus, 
hatched and raised the larvae very successfully. In an ar- 
ticle in " Forest and Stream,'' 1886, December 16, giving a 
history of his experience, Mr. Orvis says : 

" We drew many strands from both varieties, each worm giving 
two strands, i, e., one from each sac. Before drawing, we put the 
worms in a dilute solution of acetic acid, or of weak vinegar, 
which seems to render it more tenacious. After leaving them for 
a few hours, they were taken out and drawn to their greatest 
length, as related in regard to the Chinese worm. The length was 
all that could be desired, for we obtained from the cecropia strands 
over three yards (nine feet) long, and from the polyphemus 
strands nearly as long; and the color was perfection, i. e., deli- 
cately tinted either green or pale brown, according to the variety. 
But alas, our hopes were vain; for the next day, when they had 
dried, we found that they had but little strength compared with 
the product of the Chinese worm. It could hardly have been in 
the drawing, for we had previously drawn gut from the Chinese 
worm, proceeding in the same manner, and it was hard and strong. 
We drew many strands, but all with no better success." 



218 Book of the Black Bass. 

It is to be hoped that experiments in this direction will 
continue to be made, until the native gut can be produced 
fully as strong as the best Spanish gut. If it can be done 
there is a fortune in it for somebod}^ for a leader in a 
single piece of from six to nine feet in length, and as 
strong as the Spanish gut, will bring a good price. 

An easy way to experiment in the matter would be to 
collect the fully grown larvae just before they are ready to 
spin their cocoons, as they are quite plentiful in the central 
portions of the United States, especially in button-bush or 
water-sycamore swamps. In order to enable any one to 
identify the moths and their larvae, the following good de- 
scriptions are abridged from C. H. Fernald (" Standard 
Natural History," S. E. Cassino & Co., Boston, 1884, vol. 
II, pp. 456-457) : 

The Cecropia silk-worm, Platysamia cecropia, which has 
a wide distribution in the United States, is one of our 
largest moths, expanding six inches or more. It has a 
most remarkable appetite, feeding on no less than fifty 
different species of plants, among which are the apple, 
plum, maple, elm, oak, beech, birch, willow, etc. The 
female lays from two to three hundred eggs, which are 
creamy white and striped with reddish, and hatch in eight 
or ten days. The young catterpillars are black, and change 
in color and size at each moult until mature, when they 
are three or four inclies long, and of a pale green, or bluish- 
green color. The tubercles on the third and fourth seg- 
ments are coral red ; the others on the back are yellow, ex- 
cept those on the second and last segments, which, with 
those along the sides, are blue; and all are more or less 
armed with black bristles. They construct elongated, 
coarse, dull brown cocoons. The wings of the moth are of 
a rich brown color, sprinkled with gray scales, with a large 



Silk-Worm Gut. 219 

kidney-shaped spot, shaded more or less with red, and mar- 
gined with black, near the middle of each wing. A red 
band, edged on the inside with white, crosses the wings 
near the middle. The outer edges of the wings are pale 
silky brown, through which runs an irregular black line on 
the fore wings, and a double broken band on the hind ones. 
The base of the fore wings is dull red, with a curved white 
and black line, and near their apex is a black eye-spot with 
a bluish crescent in it, and a shade of lilac above. 

The American silk-worm, Telea polyphemus, is our best 
native silk-producing species. Each female lays from two 
to three hundred eggs, which are about one-sixteenth of an 
inch in diameter, slightly convex on the top and bottom, 
the convex portions whitish, and the nearly cylindrical sides 
brown. These hatch in from ten to twelve days. The 
caterpillar feeds on the leaves of oak, elm, etc., and when 
full-grown is over three inches long, of a light-green color, 
with seven oblique yellow lines on each side, and the tuber- 
cles on the segments orange with a silvery spot on the 
middle. The last segment is bordered by a purplish brown 
Y-shaped mark. It spins a whitish oval cocoon, which 
often falls to the ground, where the insect remains during 
the winter in the pupa state. 

Those especially interested are referred to the articles of 
Mr. Trouvelot, "American Xaturalist," 1867, for his expe- 
rience and methods of ol)taining the silk, and in rear- 
ing the American silk-worms. 

Leaders, or Casting Lines. 

The silk-worm gut impprted into the LTnited States, and 

used for leaders and snells, is usually in short lengths of 

from twelve to fifteen inches. In forming leaders, these 

are knotted together to the desired length. There are 



220 Book of the Black Bass. 

many grades of gut, and the angler will do well to remem- 
ber that the best is the cheapest. 

Black bass leaders should be six feet long, and composed 
of the best single Spanish silk-worm gut, sound and strong, 
hard and round. The gut lengths should be perfectly 
clear and sound, quite smooth, and without inequalities or 
rough places. The rod-end of the leader should be com- 
posed of a large-sized gut, the next length a trifle smaller, 
and so diminish by a gradual taper to the fly-end. The 
several lengths should be neatly and firmly knotted to- 
gether and the ends cut off closely. It should be remem- 
bered that it is necessary to soak and soften the ends of 
the gut-lengths previous to tying. 

Too much care can not be exercised in selecting the 
leader, for upon its soundness and excellence depend much 
of the pleasure and success of fly-fishing. It should be 
carefully examined in every inch of its length, and the 
knots closely inspected. The leader may be stained some 
suitable neutral tint; a slightly greenish, grayish, or 
smoky luie will answer. Strong green tea, diluted black 
ink, or a weak solution of indigo, make good stains. 

Anglers, now as ever, are continually theorizing and 
speculating as to the most suitable colors for leaders, in 
order to render them as little discernible to the fish as pos- 
sible. Many experiments to this end have been made by 
using aquaria, or glass tanks especially constructed, or by 
the experimenter putting his head beneath the surface of 
the water, in order to view the leader through the same 
medium as the fish. 

But the praiseworthy experiments to determine the color 
of leaders least visible to the fish, however commendable, 
are sure to end in disappointment ; such, at least, has been 
my experience. Experiments to this end have been made 



Silk-Worm Gut. 221 

by practical anglers for many years with no other result 
than to show that the finer the gut the better, without 
reference to color. My own experiments in this direction 
have not been few, and I have demonstrated, to my own 
satisfaction at least, that any color of leader or snell will 
answer, from hyaline to black, though I confess that I was 
formerly partial to a slight bluish stain, or mist color, and 
perhaps without any well-defined reason, except that it 
ought to be least visible to the fish. 

But when we enter the province of speculation and con- 
jecture, and try to see for the fish, or, in other words, to 
measure their visual capacity by our own, we are doomed 
to disappointment, though we bring to our aid all the 
known resources of the science of optics. 

The only way to experiment with profit, in this direc- 
tion, is to experiment with the fish themselves, otherwise 
our efforts will be like the play of Hamlet with the melan- 
choly Dane left out. The sense of sight in fishes is but 
little understood, as is, indeed, the anatomy of their visual 
organs, which fact precludes all analogous reasoning from 
our own standpoint, alone. I have satisfied myself, how- 
ever, that they see as well in their own element, perhaps 
better, than we in ours. 

That the color of the leader is not important is very evi- 
dent when we reflect that the boy with line of wrapping 
cord, red, white, or blue, or the angler with line of twisted 
strands of black sewing-silk, to which the hook is affixed 
without leader or snell, is as successful in taking trout or 
black bass with bait, as others with lines of the most ap- 
proved colors. Sharks do not hesitate to take the bait even 
with the huge hook and chain and swivel accompaniment, 
nor do codfish, and other marine fishes, refuse the bait be- 
cause of the laro^e hooks, wire snells, or coarse white lines ; 



222 Book of the Black. Bass. 

yet it is to be presiimed that their discernment is as acute 
as that of a brook trout. 

As to leaders and snells in fly-fishing, I do not think it 
makes much difference, 23ractically, as to their color. The 
greatest desideratum, it seems to me, is to have them as 
fine as possible, consistent with the strength required, and 
this is not much with a flexible rod, for the amount of 
strain exerted Ijy a fish on the rod and tackle is very much 
less than is popularly supposed. Though any color may 
answer, I prefer lines and leaders of natural tints as being 
more in accordance with the eternal fitness of things. Al- 
though staining may not weaken the gut, it certainly can 
not add to its strength; it is best, therefore, I think, to 
use leaders and snells of unstained gut. As it is almost 
transjDarent, it is less likely to be seen than a stained 
leader. I have used, with success, snells and leaders of the 
finest silver suture wire, for trout and black bass, but, prac- 
tically, they are not pliable enough, and are too heavy. 

On the whole, then, I think we shall have to be content 
with our leaders and snells as we find them to-day, simply 
selecting those that are the finest, roundest, and most per- 
fect, remembering, meanwhile, that a sight of the angler 
himself is more fatal to successful fishing than a display 
of the coarsest leader, or of the most objectionable in color. 

Leaders are now made with loops for attaching the drop- 
per flies, and is by far the most preferable way. An excel- 
lent mode of making the loop is as follows — and if the 
reader will refer to Fig. 11, on page 228, and its explana- 
tion on page 229, the matter will be made much clearer. 
In forming the usual knot for tying the gut lengths to- 
gether in making a leader, the two ends are lapped about 
two inches in forming that knot ; but to make the loop, lap 
about four inches, and double one strand back on itself, so 



Silk-Worm Gut. 223 

that there will be then three strands (instead of two), pre- 
sented for tying, each about two inches long — two of the 
strands forming the loop ; now tie the knot in the manner 
as shown in the illustration referred to, and draw tight. 
This will leave two short ends on one side of the knot, and 
a loop on the other ; the former are to be clipped off short. 
This loop should point toward the reel end of the leader, 
or awa}^ from the stretcher fly, in order that the drop fly 
when attached may stand at a right angle to the leader, and 
thus prevent it becoming curled around it, when wet. 

A very good plan of making leaders is that used by some 
anglers, who tie the gut strands together in lengths of 
three feet, with loops at each end. Two of these lengths 
can be looped together for a six-foot leader. The flies can 
also be attached to these looped ends very easily. In this 
way a number of casts can l^e prepared, which may be used 
as found necessary. If the angler in using, say, a leader 
of six feet made in this way, with the stretcher and drop- 
per flies attached to the end loops of the lower three- 
feet length, it will readily be seen how easy it would be to 
change the cast by simply " unlooping " the leader in the 
middle, and looping on another three-feet length — with 
flies already attached — as before. It will also be seen 
how easily a leader can be repaired in the same manner, by 
discarding the broken or frayed portion and replacing it 
with another three-feet length. 

In testing the strength of leaders for black bass fishing, 
the angler should be very careful not to apply a force or 
weight of more than two or three pounds, which is really 
more than it will require in actual fishing, and is all the 
strain a leader can be put to without injury. Silk-worm 
gut is always weakened when tested to the breaking point, 
or one of six or more pounds ; thus, a leader that breaks at 



224 Book of the Black Bass. 

eight pounds at the first trial, will not be likely to sustain 
more than six pounds at the next, and still less at the third 
trial. But if a low test is applied, as suggested, a good 
leader will last until worn out, in actual fishing. There is 
really no necessity for testing a first-class leader, for black 
bass or trout fishing, when bought from a reputable maker. 

Snells^ or Snoods. 

For utility and convenience, hooks are tied on short 
pieces of gut, gimp, or sea-grass, called snells, or snoods. 
The best material for snells is silk-worm gut, as it is light, 
strong, and nearly invisible. It may be stained of a simi- 
lar color and in the same manner as the leader. 

The length of snells for black bass angling should be 
from three to five inches ; and they should be composed of 
single, heavy gut, though they may be made double if the 
gut is very light or fine. 

Unless eyed hooks are used, the tapered shank hook 
should be neatly and securely tied to the snell with waxed 
silk and varnished, and a loop formed on the other end of 
the snell for attaching to the reel line ; the end of the gut 
should be softened and rendered pliable by soaking it in 
water before tying the loop. 

For fishing in waters where pike, pickerel, or pike-perch 
are numerous it may be advisable to substitute gimp of the 
smallest caliber for the gut snell, as the long and sharp 
teeth of those species would make short work of the deli- 
cate gut fibre by fraying or cutting it. 

If eyed hooks are used the snell has simply a loop tied at 
one end, leaving the other end to be affixed to the hook by 
a jam, or other, knot. 

Most black bass flies are now made with a short loop, or 
eye, of double gut, instead of being tied on snells of several 



Silk- Worm Gut. 225 

inches in length. This is much the best way. They can 
be as easily looped on for stretchers, and by using separate 
snells looped at each end^ they can be as readily attached 
for droppers. These separate snells should not be more 
than three or four inches long; and when the fly is tied 
directly to the snell, the latter should not exceed four 
inches in length — three inches is really long enough. 
Short snells or droppers will stand out better from the 
leader than longer ones, and they fit the modern AjM^ooks 
much bettor. 

The " eye '' or loop of the fly may be formed of the 
smallest sized wire gimp, instead of gut, as it is stronger, 
and cannot become chafed or frayed. It will, however, 
increase the weight of the fly somewhat ; but this will be no 
disadvantage in fly-fishing for black bass. 

KXOTS. 

In angling, as in sailing, there is no accomplishment so 
necessary, or that proclaims the finished angler or sailor 
so well, as his abilit}^ to tie a good knot. The beginner 
should study the plate of " knots " thoroughly, and by 
practice learn to tie each and all of them readily and prop- 
erly. I have seen otherwise good anglers who could not 
tie a correct or graceful knot, and the knife was always 
brought -into requisition to " untie ^' their clumsy efforts; 
in this way their lines became shorter daily, and " beauti- 
fully less." 

There is always a right way and a wrong way to do 
every thing ; and though a knot may seem an unimportant 
thing, it is really often a most vital one, many times caus- 
ing the angler to lose a good fish, and might result in the 
loss of his life to the sailor. The new hand will please 
remember that whatever is worth doing at all, is worth 
doing well. ^5 



226 Book of the Black Bass. 

Fig. 1 is the '^ common " knot for forming a loop at the 
end of a line^ or snelL It has its uses. 

Fig. 2 is the best knot for tying such a loop; it looks a 
little intricate, but can be learned by practice, and once 
learned, will be a " well-spring of pleasure.'^ 

Fig. 3 is a good and simple method of attaching the 
reel-line to the loop of the leader, or snell. It is the 
" tiller-hitch,'' or " helm-knot," so-called because it can be 
instantly cast off by a jerk on the end; being thus the 
safest hitcJi for the main-sheet in sailing. 

Fig. 4 is a more secure knot for attaching the end of 
the line to loop of leader, or snell; it makes a small and 
neat knot, and is easily untied. It is the " becket-hitch," 
with a small round knot in the end of the line to prevent 
its working loose. 

Fig. 5 is anotlicr method of fastening reel-line to loop 
of leader, or snell ; it is a very safe and secure knot, and 
is a modification of the "reef-knot" (fig. 10). 

Fig. 6 is similar to fig. 5, with the end of line fastened 
on itself by a half-hitch ; it is ver}^ secure, but a little more 
difficult to untie than fig. 5. Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are all 
good knots for bending the line to loop of leader, or snell ; 
they draw up close and snug, will not slip, and are easily 
loosened. The angler can take his choice, but he should 
never tie his line and leader together by the common knot 
(similar to fig. 1), or the square knot (fig. 10). The 
leader should always be provided with a loop in each end, 
neatly seized with good sewing silk, and varnished. In 
bait-fishing, a loop may be formed on the end of the reel- 
line, by which it may be fastened to one ring of the swivel, 
when it is desired to pass the loop of the snell through the 
opposite ring. 

Fig. 7 is the " single water-knot,^' for tying lengths of 



Silk-Worm Gut. 227 

gut together to form the leader; it consists of half-hitches 
at the ends of the gut lengths, which are formed around 
the opposing gut-lengths, as shown in the figure; this 
forms a sliding knot for securing the end of the snell of a 
drop-fl3\ 

Fig. 8 is the " double water-knot ^' for the same purpose 
as fig. 7; it is more secure, but not so neat, as double 
hitches are used in its construction, as plainly shown in 
the figure. 

Fig. 9 shows the method of fastening the snell of a 
dropper by the single or double water-knots. After the 
two parts of the water-knot are drawn tight, as shown in 
the figure, a round knot is made in the end of the snell 
of the fly, and is put through the open loop between the 
two halves of the water-knot, which latter are then drawn 
together close and snug, holding the snell tightly and 
securely. By using this mode of attaching droppers to 
the leader, they stand at right angles to it, and may be 
changed as often as desired^ and with but little trouble, by 
simply sliding the water-knots apart, taking out the snell 
of one fly and inserting another. The flies can not pull 
out, as might be supposed, for the strain and struggles of 
a fish only serve to make the knot draw more closely to- 
gether. This plan, however, is not much used now, nor are 
the water-knots ; the more modern plan of using leaders 
and snells with loops, as described on page 223, having 
superseded them. 

Fig. 10 is the " reef-knot,^' or common square knot, and 
is a very safe and strong knot for many purposes ; it never 
slips or jams, when properly tied, and is easily loosened; 
but in tying this knot, if the second turn or hitch is not 
made exactly right, it forms a " granny-knot," than which 
there is no worse or more uncertain knot made, and yet 



'28 



Book of the Black Bass. 




^^^ 




iSlLK-WoiiM UUT. 229 

nine persons out of ten tie a '^ granny-knot.'^ The novice 
will do well to study this common knot, and learn to tie 
it correctly. It is sometimes used for tying the lengths 
of a leader, in which case, as also with the single water- 
knot, the ends should be cut off closely, and neatly whipped 
with fine sewing silk and varnished. 

Fig. 11 is the form of knot generally used by manufac- 
turers of leaders, or casting lines, for tying together the 
gut-lengths ; it is a very simple knot to tie, though it looks 
somewhat difficult in the figure, and in the way that 1 
have seen some attempt it, is a difficult knot. I have 
drawn the two lengths of different colors, one white, the 
other dark, so that the construction of the knot can be 
more easily seen. The ends of two gut-lengths are passed 
by one another, or in other words lapped, sufficiently to 
allow of their being tied by a single hitch and drawn 
tightly, just like tying a single, knot in a double string 
(as in ^g. 1). Usually the knot is made double by pass- 
ing the ends of the gut through twice, instead of but once, 
in tying; that is by simply tying what is known as a " sur- 
geon's knot " (for ligating arteries) with a double thread. 
The short ends are then trimmed off closely. If a leader 
is made with loops for attaching drop-flies, this is the best 
knot to use in making the leader itself, being, like fig. 10, 
secure and unyielding. 

Where knots like figs. 10 and 11 are used in construct- 
ing the leader, and no loops are provided for attaching 
droppers, the latter must be secured by a half-hitch^ just 
above a knot in the leader, as shown in fiirs. 10 and 11, 
which is a very good plan. It must be borne in mind, 
ihat in tying lengths of gut together, or in tying loops or 
knots in gut-snells. the ends must first be soaked in water 
until quite soft and pliable; this must also be observed in 
bending or tying a hook on a gut-snell. 



230 Book of the Black Bass. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

HOOKS. 

" For in the Prophet Amos, mention is made of fish-hooks ; and 
in the book of Job, which was long before the days of Amos, for 
that book is said to have been written by Moses, mention is made 
also of fish-hooks, which must imply anglers in those times." — 
IzAAK Walton. 

The best fish-hooks are made in England, that country 
supplying the world with hooks of all sizes and styles, for 
all kinds of fishing. The town of Eedditch has been 
famous for its fish-hooks for at least two centuries. There, 
are located the celebrated makers, Harrison, Hemming, 
Millward, Bartleet, Warrin, Bates, Alcock, and others, 
whose familiar names are almost synonymous with hooks 
and needles, both articles being usually made by the manu- 
facturers mentioned. 

There are fish-hooks and fish-hooks, and to the unin- 
itiated one hook is as good as another ; all they can see in a 
hook, is the fact that it has a shank, a bend, and a bearded 
point. But to the angler this contracted view is not suffi- 
cient. There are many styles of shank, numerous forms 
of bend, and various ways of fashioning the barb and 
point, all of which are of the highest practical importance. 
Some hooks are made for general service, while others are 
formed exclusively for particular kinds of fish, or for 
special methods of angling. The fish-hook of to-day is not 
essentially different from that used by the ancient Greeks 
and Romans, to the casual observer; but to the practiced 
eye, the hooks now produced, for form, temper, and 
strength have never been equaled in the history of the 
world. 



Hooks. 231 

The form, quality, and general : excellence of hooks, as 
now made, is the result of the competitive skill and great 
experience of the manufacturers of Eedditch, England, 
whose energies and resources have been directed in this 
peculiar channel for nearly two hundred years; and, as 
might be inferred, as between the hooks of the first-class 
makers, there is but little choice, so far as quality and 
workmanship are concerned. 

There is no implement of the craft that is so universally 
kept in stock at the small stores and shops throughout the 
countr}^, as the fish-hook: and these hooks, as a rule, arc 
of very inferior qualit}^, as might be inferred when we take 
into consideration their cheapness, notwithstanding the 
fact that they must net the dealer at least fifty per cent, 
profit, or he would not sell them. 

"While the average angler is inclined to use heavier rods, 
and stronger lines, than are actually necessary, he does not 
seem to be so much impressed with the importance of 
strength in a fish-hook, but accepts those of the small 
dealers mentioned, with the blind faith that a hook is a 
hook, and that one is as strong as another, if of the same 
sized wire; and, moreover, he recognizes but two forms of 
hooks, the Kirby. or side-bend, and the straight, or more 
or less rounding-bend. 

^ow there are no fallacies so great as these, for the hook 
is of the most vital importance to the angler, and he should 
obtain the very best to be had, both in form and quality. 
Fish-hooks, in themselves, being of so comparatively small 
a price, it is the most insane idea of economy to purchase 
any but those of the very best quality. The most approved 
form of bend and barb, should also be taken into serious 
consideration. 

The highest grades of English hooks, like English gun- 



332 Book of the Black Bass. 

barrels, are thoroughly tested by causing them to sustain 
a strain, twice or thrice as great as they are usually put to 
in actual service, and the extra care and manipulation, and 
the superior stock used in the construction of such hooks, 
make their cost somewhat higher; but this extra amount 
is money well expended, for the angler can rely upon them 
with the utmost confidence, i^rovided they are the product 
of the best makers; there is but one thing left to decide 
his choice among such hooks, viz., the peculiar bend or 
form, given to the hook, of which there are several that 
are good enough. I might add, that all first-class hooks 
are japanned, or bronzed, and that a blued hook is always 
of an inferior quality. 

The most approved hooks for black bass, are the Sproat, 
O'Shaughncssy, Diildin Limerick, Cork-sliapc Limerick, 
round bend Carlisle, or Aberdeen, and hollow point Lim- 
erick; they are best in the order named. 

As regards the shape and bend of a hook, my first choice 
for black bass angling is the " Sproat bend," and the next 
best form, in my opinion, is ihe " O'Shaughncssy." In 
general form and bend the two hooks are identical, but 
their difference consists in the form of barb, and direction 
of the point. In the latter peculiarities, the Sproat is 
fashioned after true scientific principles, being a central- 
draught hook; that is, the short, squarish, or somewhat 
nngular barb, terminates in an abrupt point, which, if con- 
tinued upward, would intersect a line drawn from the 
extremity of the shank and continuous with it. In other 
words, the direction of the point of the hook is toward 
the end of the shank. 

When the Sproat hook is tied on a snell, and the point 
of the hook is held against the ball of the thumb, and 
traction made on the snell, the direction of the point of 



Hooks. 233 

the hook is on the same plane, or in the same direction or 
axis as the line of the snell, thus constituting what is 
termed a central-draught fish-hook. The wire of the 
Sproat is a trifle smaller than the O'Shaughnessy, which 
is another advantage. The latter hook has a long and 
somewhat hollow point, which is curved outward. 

The Sproat bend I regard as the very best hook manufac- 
tured. I first commenced its use thirty-five years ago. Its 
appearance is somewhat against it, but it is like " a singed 
cat." By the side of a delicate, blued, gracefully-shaped 
Aberdeen, it looks black, and rather clumsy, with its short 
barb and peculiar bend, but it means " business." Its tem- 
per is just right, and when you strike a fish it goes right 
through any part of the mouth, never springing out, and 
never disappointing you. I have had the Aberdeen so 
soft as to completely straighten and pull out, and so brittle 
as to break like a pipe stem, but the Sproat has yet to fail 
me. For staying qualities it is perfection itself. 

The " Dublin bend," or Dublin Limerick, as it is some- 
times called, and the " Dublin Limerick forged," are excel- 
lent hooks, and are identical in form and bend with the 
O'Shaughnessy hook, the only difference consisting in the 
caliber of the wire, which, in the latter, is a trifle heavier. 
The forged Dublin Limerick has the wire flattened by ham- 
mering or forging ; it is a remarkably strong hook. 

The " Cork-shape Limerick " has an almost round bend, 
with a straight shank, and a long straight point, which is 
parallel with the shank in its direction, and a very good 
hook, being of rather smaller wire than the Sproat. 

The " Carlisle " hooks are made of very small wire, and 
are very delicate and attractive to the eye, but for black 
bass Ashing I do not admire them, though, until I came 
across the Sproat hook, I used the round bend Carlisle 



234: 



Book of the Black Bass. 




kj 



^VJVJU 




Vj 



b 



1. Triple hook. 2. Lip hook. 3. Double fly-hook. 

4. Dublin bend. 5. 0"Shaughnessy. 6. Chestertown. 

7. Limerick. 8. Cork shape. 9. Sproat. 

10. Aberdeen. 11. Kirby Carlisle. 12. Grravltation. 

13. Kinsey. 14. Sneck bend. 



Hooks. 235 

(Aberdeen) altogether. Still, many anglers prefer them 
on account of the small wire, which is not so apt to injure 
the minnow; but I might say here, that if a minnow is put 
on with care, it need not be injured to a greater extent, 
even with the forged Dublin bend hook, than with the 
Carlisle. The round-bend Carlisle, or Aberdeen hook, 
lias a perfectly round bend, and a long straight shank; the 
barb is long, with the point curving outward. 

The "hollow point Limerick ^^ is a very old form of 
hook, and is still a great favorite with many, notably the 
veterans of the angle, whose experience with this hook 
dates back to the heyday of youth. The form of the Lim- 
erick is well known; it has a straight shank, and a very 
abrupt bend, with a long, straight, and hollow point. 

The Kirby Carlisle, the Kirby Limerick, and, in fact, 
any hook with the " Kirby ^' or side-bend I can not recom- 
mend for any kind of angling. It is the worst possible 
crook that can be given to a fish-hook, being both unscien- 
tific and impracticable. 

The needle-pointed, or hook without a beard or barb, 
has been recommended for fly-fishing, but it will not an- 
swer for the black bass. So long as the fish remains in 
the water, and a proper tension of line is maintained by 
the angler, it holds as well as any other hook, but when 
the fish leaps from the water in its struggles to free itself, 
like the black bass, there is a great liability of its shaking 
out such a hook. 

Artificial flies, tied on extremely small barbless and 
needle-pointed hooks with a circular bend, have been used 
in Japan for centuries, and while such hooks may do for 
the brook trout, and fishes closely allied to it in habits, 
they are totally unsuitable for the black bass, or any fish 
that makes such desperate efforts to get away, when hooked. 



236 



Book of the Black Bass. 



SPROATBEND. 



1 I 




2 iV 1 l\ >'/2i\ yo i\ Vo ,x 3/„ 



O'SHAUGHNESSY. 



'i\ M\ ' iV'/^ i\ '/ 



Vo 




ABERDEEN. 



3 i 2 



^ 



Vo i Vo 




I 



Hooks. 237 

The Edgar patent barbless hook, furnished by William 
Mills & Son, is made upon a very different principle. 
This hook, while having no barb, has a " keeper " which 
securely holds the fish after it is hooked, rendering it 
almost impossible for it to escape, even with a slack line. 
It is the only " patent '' fish-hook that has any real merit, 
though it seems to me like taking too much advantage of 
a fish, and is likely to foster and encourage a careless and 
shiftless style of angling. Still, it may become quite a 
favorite hook with many. To my mind the great charm 
of angling consists in using a proper judgment (born of a 
thorough knowledge of the fish and its habits) in present- 
ing the bait, and the exercise of skill and science in hook- 
ing, pla3dng, and landing it. 

Mills & Son have applied for a patent on a new form of 
barbless hook. At the bend of the hook the wire is turned 
on itself, forming a loop, and then continued up to the 
point. This loop answers the same purpose as the keeper 
of the Edgar hook. It has also a vertical eye. 

Recently the old " eyed " hook has been revived in Eng- 
land for artificial flies, but with this difference: the old- 
fashioned form had the eye vertical, that is, on the same 
plane with the shank, while the improved eye is either 
turned up or turned down; though some prefer it turned 
up, the turned down eye is deemed the best form. Through 
this eye the snell is passed and fastened by one of several 
knots or hitches, each of which has its advocates. 

Bat the black bass fisher need not worry his brain as to 
whether the e3'e should be turned up or down, nor fret his 
soul as to the particular knot or hitch by which to attach 
the snell; for the plan of making the eye of gut or gimp 
in bass flies is really to be preferred to any form of eyed 
hook, as the loop of the snell can be readily passed through 



238 



Book of the Black Bass. 



the small gut loop at the head of the fly, and over the lat- 
ter, and then drawn tight, making a very neat and secure 
attachment — neater and more secure than by any form of 
eyed hook with knotted snell. The eye of the new hook is 
so small that, except in large sizes, a doubled gut can not 
be passed through it, consequently it must be fastened by 
a single gut with some sort of knot. It is best suited for 
the very small hooks, on which the trout flies of England 
are usually tied, and for the very finely drawn, or gossa- 
mer gut, of which the snells are made. 



h 




The eyed hook is. however, gradually coming into vogue, 
especially for small trout flies, and to some extent for small 
bass flies. The Pennell turned -up eye seems to be the 
favorite, though the Hall turned-down eye is perhaps as 
good, at least so far as the form of the eye is concerned. 

I have found a lack of uniformity in the size and form 
of the eye in both hooks, and in many the eye is not 
smoothly finished. 

Heretofore the eyed hooks have all been of the Limerick 
pattern, but lately they are being made with the Sproat 
bend, which is better adapted for small bass flies. 

There are several kinds of knots used for fastening the 



Hooks. 



339 



snell to the eyed hook, which are shown in the accompany- 
ing ilhistrations, and which explain themselves. The sim- 
plest jam knot is as good or better than the more compli- 
cated ones. 




A needle-eyed hook has also been introduced by Warner 
that has tlie eye formed near the end of the shank, much 
the same as in a sewing needle. 

With the advent of the eyed hook came a change in the 
system of numbering them styled the Kendal scale, which 
is the reverse of the one heretofore universally used — the 
Redditch scale. Concerning this the late Mr. S. Alcock 
has this to say : 



" In Redditch we number from 1 to 20, the size becoming smaller 
the higher the number, in the same way that the wire is numbered. 
This is logical, for the finer the wire the more frequently must it 
be dra^\Ti through the plates to reduce it. The sizes larger than 
No. 1 we number 0, 00, 000, etc. This system has worked well for 
centuries. 

" Now. however, a manufacturer employing a very few hands 
chooses to number his hooks backward, 20 being a large size and 
1 a smaller size ; those smaller than No. 1 he calls 0, 00, 000, etc. ; 
and Mr. Pennell has written a book in which he adopts this num- 
bering : but the only reason given for this new system is that * it 
is sufficiently elastic, allowing of extension either way.' " 



240 Book of the Black Bass. 

As the hooks that are most in vogue in the United States, 
as the Sproat, O'Shaughnessy, Carlisle, Aberdeen, Dublin 
bend, and hollow-point Limerick, are all numbered accord- 
ing to the Eedditch system, and agree very closely in all 
the sizes, it would be in the nature of a calamity to change 
it for the Kendal or any other system. 

Snelling Hooks. 

It has been recommended, in tying gut snells to hooks, 
to heat the shank of the hook and coat it with rubber or 
other cement, or wax, and to soften the gut by soaking, or 
to crimp it by biting with the teeth or pinching it with 
pliers; but let me caution the tyro, and advise him to do 
nothing of the kind. It destroys the temper of a hook to 
heat it, and burns off the protective coating; it breaks the 
fiber of the gut to bite or crimp it; and when the gut is 
expanded by soaking and tied on, it shrinks upon drying, 
and leaves the wrapping loose. 

The best way to tie a gut snell to a hook is to use noth- 
ing but well-waxed silk thread, and to wrap evenly and 
tightly. If properly done it will never pull off. Eubber 
cement loses its life after a time, becoming brittle, and 
rots the silk wrapping; and so will all cements, sooner or 
later, from constant wetting and drying. At the best, if 
they do no good they may do harm, and it is folly to use 
them when they can better be dispensed with. 

In tying a hook to gut, use the best sewing silk — the 
finest for very small hooks and coarser for larger ones ; use 
red shades as they seem to be stronger, and the color is 
suitable. The silk must be well-M-axed, and there is noth- 
ing better for the purpose than the best light-colored shoe- 
maker's wax, which can be folded in a piece of soft leather 
to prevent soiling one's fingers. 



Hooks. 241 

Some writers advise laying the gut on the back of the 
shank, but it is much better and more proper to place it 
on the front or inside of the shank. When it' is on the 
back the direction of the traction and the strain is away 
from the end of the shank, and has a tendency to stretch 
or loosen the wrapping at that point ; while with the gut in 
front of the shank this is obviated, as can be easily demon- 
strated, by placing the point of the hook against the ball 
of the thumb and making traction on the snell. 

Now, then, to tie a tapered hook to gut, proceed as fol- 
lows : First wax the silk well ; then take the hook between 
the thumb and forefinger of the left hand (if you are right- 
handed), with the end of the shank to the right, and the 
barb uppermost; beginning at about the middle of the 
shank make several spiral turns of the silk to within one- 
thirty-second of an inch of the tapered point, then lay the 
gut along the inside of the shank for half its length, for 
small and medium-sized hooks, or one-third for large hooks, 
and begin wrapping the silk around the gut and shank, and 
wrap firmly, evenly and closely down toward the bend of 
the hook, using as much strain in wrapping as the silk 
will bear, and continue the wrapping for a short distance, 
or six or eight turns, below the end of the gut. Begin the 
wrapping just below the enTl of the shank, leaving its tip 
bare, and finish the wrapping with the invisible knot. 

The invisible knot is formed in two ways : one by revers- 
ing the hook in the fingers of the left hand, so that the 
shank points to the left, and laying the silk along the shank 
with its end beyond the end of the shank, leaving a loop of 
the silk to continue the wrapping, around the shank, gut 
and silk, passing the loop over and around the bend of the 
hook at each turn, until four or five turns are made, and 
then drawing the silk back by its end, through the turns, 
16 



242 Book of the Black Bass. 

drawing tightly, and clipping off the end closely. It is 
more easily done than described. 

Another way of making the invisible knot, or rather a 
different way of doing the same thing, is to lay a doubled 
thread of finer (unwaxed) silk along the wrapping, its loop 
being toward the bend of the hook, and include this doubled 
thread in the last four or five turns around the shank and 
gut, but not wrapping quite so firmly as before, and then 
pass the end of the wrapping silk through the loop, by 
means of which the wrapping thread is pulled back and out 
under these last turns, and after drawing snugly and tightly 
the end is to be closely clipped off. When the wrapping is 
completed, it is to be well coated with shellac varnish by 
means of a camel's hair pencil. 



\ 



Artificial Flies. 243 



CHAPTER XIV. 

ARTIFICIAL FLIES. 

" You are to- note, that there are twelve kinds of artificial-made 
flies, to angle with upon the top of the water." — Izaak Walton. 

Fly-Fishixg and the art of making artificial flies dates 
back at least to the ancient Greeks and Eomans. During 
the palni}^ days of the Eoman Empire, the rod, line, hook, 
and artificial fly were well known. Xoel de la Moriniere 
tells ns that the lines were generally made of horsehair, 
single, double, and plaited; and according to ^lianus the 
hair was colored in different ways. The fishing-rod was 
chosen with reference to the supposed weight of the fish to 
be caught, and the resistance it could offer. The hooks 
were of copper or iron, and coated with tin. The art of 
making flies of feathers and other materials has, perhaps, 
been carried not much further in our own time. It is pos- 
sible that the national love for fly-fishing was introduced 
into Britain by the Romans. 

It is with some degree of trepidation that I approach the 
subject of artificial flies, for I am afraid that I hold some 
very heretical notions on the subject. But of one fact I 
am positively convinced, and that is, that there is a good 
deal of humbug in this matter, as evidenced in the many 
fine-spun theories and hair-splitting arguments that are 
advocated and advanced (pertaining to the construction 
and use of artificial flies) by some anglers, but which theo- 
ries do not hold good in practice. 

In England, more especially, do anglers proceed to ex- 
tremes as theorists in the matter of artificial files for trout 
fishing. They seem to be divided, principall)^, into " col- 



244 Book of the Black Bass. 

orists/' or those who think color of paramount importance 
to form, and " formalists/' or " entomologists/' who main- 
tain that form is every thing, and profess to imitate the 
natural fly, in its proper season, in every particular of 
form and tinting. But there is no evidence that one class 
is more successful than the other, as anglers. On the other 
hand are the followers of Mr. PennelFs system, or plan, 
who confine themselves to three "typical" flies — green, 
brown, and yellow " hackles " — and claim that they are 
sufficient for all practical j^urposes, and can be made avail- 
able for different waters and seasons by increasing or di- 
minishing the size of the flies, as circumstances seem to 
demand. While the adherents to this latter theory are 
fully as successful, from all accounts, as those who have a 
list of nearly a thousand named flies to choose from, and 
enjoy the satisfaction of having reduced the perplexing 
matter to a delightful simplicity, and of obviating the 
troubles of a repeated changing of the cast of flies as prac- 
ticed by others, they must sometimes feel a regret deep in 
their hearts for casting down and sweeping away their 
idols and cherished traditions, and to a certain extent the 
poetry of fly-fishing, by their iconoclastic though sensible 
opinions and practices. 

Where fish are plentiful and in a " biting mood/' almost 
any fly, be it never so rudely tied, and of the least possible 
resemblance to any thing in the insect creation, will be 
successful, even if clumsily cast ; on the contrary, there are 
times when the best-made flies, cast by the most skillful 
artists, are necessary to induce a rise. Between these ex- 
tremes must we look for rules for our general guidance, 
and without occupying further space with arguments, pro 
and eon, it will be sufficient to say that there are certain 
general rules which apply to the character of the fly to be 
used at certain times, and which rules are the result of, and 



Artificial Flies. ^ 245 

founded upon, the experience and observations of fly-fish- 
ers for many generations past. 

These rules, so far as they apply to black bass fly-fishing, 
are few and simple : 

1. Flies should be small, rather than large, the average 
trout fly being usually large enough. 

2. On bright days, and with clear, low, or fine water, 
flies should be quite small, and of subdued, dark, or neutral 
tints. 

3. For cloudy days, and high, turbid, or rough water^ 
larger and brighter flies should be used. 

4. For very dark days, or from sunset until dark, or on 
moonlight evenings, gray or whitish flies, of good size, 
should be employed. 

I shall not go into an entomological description of flies 
and their counterfeits, for it is neither requisite nor advis- 
able, so far as bass flies are concerned. For those who 
feel an interest in this subject, however, I can recommend 
the several fine works published in England on the con- 
struction of trout and salmon flies; among the best of 
which are Eonald's " Fly-Fisher's Entomology," and Pen- 
nell's " Modern Practical Angler." The best book, how- 
ever, ever written on the subject, and the one most useful 
to the American angler, is " Favorite Flies and their His- 
tories," by Mary Orvis Marbury. 

I will merely state that the majority of artificial flies 
are of two kinds, and are intended to represent the perfect 
winged insects of certain orders, and the larvae of others; 
thus, most trout flies are the pretended imitations of some 
of the species of the orders Diptera and Neuroptera, the 
former comprising the two-winged insects, as the gnats, 
mosquitoes, midges, etc., and the latter the four-winged 
insects, as the May-flies, dragon-flies, etc. The larval 
form of fly is supposed to represent a caterpillar, and is 



246 Book of the Black Bass. 

called a " hackle," or, more correcth^, a " palmer." It 
must be borne in mind in this connection that an artificial 
fly, when wet, 23resents a much different appearance from 
the same fly when dry, and our flies should be tied with 
reference to this contingency. 

The term " hackle " is likely to cause some confusion in 
the mind of the new hand, if not explained, for it is sus- 
ceptible of several meanings as used by anglers and fly- 
tyers. The proper meaning of the word is a " feather " 
from the neck or saddle of the cock, and known as a 
" neck-hackle," or a " saddle-hackle," as the case may be. 
These hackle-feathers are used to imitate the legs or feet 
of an artificial fly; and as one variety of fly consists only 
of a body with a hackle wound spirally around this body, 
from one end to the other, this form of fly has come to be 
known, in this country at least, as " a hackle," though, as 
stated before, the proper name is " palmer," and it is de- 
signed to imitate a caterpillar, for it is only a body bristling 
with " legs." 

Then there is the " hackle-fly," which is a fly with body 
and, perhaps, a tail, and in addition a hackle-feather tied 
on at the shoulder, to represent the legs. Some salmon 
flies have, in addition to wings, tail and feelers, the entire 
body wound with a hackle, like a palmer. This is known 
as a " combination-fly," and, like all salmon flies, does not 
pretend to imitate any thing in nature. 

The conventional " fly," or, properly, the winged fly, is 
the one most generally used. In addition to a body, legs 
and tail, it has a pair or two of wings, tied on in various 
positions, flat, cocked, split, etc. 

It is not my intention to give any instruction in the art 
of fly-tying, nor do I deem it at all expedient, for it is an 
art that can not be taught by written directions, without 
the aid of explanatory cuts and diagrams, and even then 



Artificial Flies. 247 

in but a moderate degree. The best way for one to ob- 
tain an insight into the mysteries of the art, is to care- 
fully dissect and take apart the flies of the best makers, 
for in the taking apart one can acquire more or less of the 
modus operandi of the putting together. 

The most approved hooks for bass-flies are the Sproat, 
O'Shaughnessy, Dublin Limerick, Cork Shape Limerick, 
and hollow point Limerick. I consider them best in the 
order named, though the O'Shaughnessy is thought by 
many to be the best. It is the same in all respects as the 
Dublin Limerick, except that it is a little heavier in wire, 
and it differs from the Sproat only in the barb, the latter 
having a shorter barb, with the point straight, or pointing 
toward the extreme end of the shank, forming a true 
central-draught hook. The barb of the O'Shaughnessy is a 
little longer, and the point .is turned slightly outward. 
But any of these hooks will give good satisfaction. 

The most suitable sizes, for bass flies are Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 
5, the last being the smallest that should be used under 
ordinary circumstances, though, for the smallest flies, Nos. 
6 and 7 may be employed. These numbers apply to all of 
the hooks named above. 

Flies may be tied on a silk-worm gut snell several 
inches in length, or may have simply a small, short gut- 
loop. Those with loops can be used as ^^ stretchers " or 
tail flies ; but when used as " droppers " or bob flies, they 
must be attached to the leader by a short length of gut, 
say three or four inches long. 

Many trout flies are used, as stated, and with good effect 
in black bass fishing, for really the form and color of the 
fly does not seem to make much difference with the bass; 
he does not seem so " fastidious," as it is termed, in his 
choice of flies. Most of the "general" trout flies are 
taken as patterns for bass flies, as the coachmen, professor, 



248 Book OF the Black Bass. 

soldier, grizzly king, Montreal, queen of the water, king of 
the water, etc., and all of the " hackles." 

As every angler will become jDartial, sooner or later, to 
certain flies, and adopt them as favorites to the exclusion 
of others, I deem it unnecessary to allude to but few, ex- 
cept in a general way; and those that I shall particularize 
are such as I have used many times with most gratifying 
results. 

I have had more uniform success, day in and day out, 
with the black, brown, red, j^ellow, and gray hackles, than 
with the Avinged flies; though some of the latter I have 
employed with excellent success for high or rough waters, 
and those with light-colored or white wings can not be 
surpassed for twilight fishing, or for very gloomy days. 

There are flies and flies. Xearly every angler has his 
favorities, both in general and special flies. Very often the 
preference is purely fanciful, l)ut it is a pardonable weak- 
ness, to which we are all more or less prone; and then it 
can not do much harm, for I believe that, in most instances, 
we are more choice in the matter than the fish themselves. 
The facts are, as before stated, that, when fish are rising 
freely, almost any fly will kill ; but when they are shy and 
diffident, it is only flies of certain colors, or combinations 
of colors, and skillfully cast, that seem to induce a rise. 
Perhaps, after all, it is the manner of offering, rather 
than its peculiar features, that renders a particular fly 
more killing than others at certain times. 

But that there are some flies that are more generally and 
uniformly killing, day in and day out, on various waters, is 
a fact proved by practical experience, and generally admit- 
ted by fly-fishers. Among these are notably the coachman, 
grizzly king, professor, Montreal and the several hackles. 
These were all originally trout flies, but they answer as 
good a purpose for the black bass when made of the proper 



Abtificial Flies. 



249 



size, which is not much larger, if any, than the ordinary 
trout fly. 

We really do not know, exactly, what color or combina- 
tion of colors, or just what form or size, they prefer. Some- 
times they will take any thing made of feathers, tinsel, silk, 
or wool, or a bit of rag, and of any known color; at other 
times they will notice only certain colors or sizes, and at 
still other times they will rise to nothing in the semblance 
of an artificial fly. Then, again, a fly or flies that are kill- 
ing on some waters are comparatively useless on others. 

If we knew the "particular vanity" of the black bass 
in color or colors, or if he is color-blind, just what form or 
size is most tempting, we should have an easy task. Ex- 
perience and observation teach us, however, that the black 
bass, like most other game-fishes, seems to have a penchant 
for red, yellow, brown and black, and at times gray and 
green, and many artificial flies embody one or more of these 
colors in their construction, and they are usually killing 
flies. 

Perhaps this can be better shown in the following table, 
v;here the predominating colors of body, wings and hackle 
are readilv seen: 



NAME OF FLY. 



Montreal 

Polka 

King of the Water. 

Abbey 

Red Ibis 

Lord Baltimore 

Oconomowoc 

Queen of the Water 

Professor 

Ferguson 

Oriole 

Grizzly King 

Seth Green 

Coachman 

Henshall 

T\Tiite Miller 

Gray Drake 



Body. 



Red. 

Red. 

Red. 

Red. 

Red. 

Yellow. 

Yellow. 

Yellow. 

Yellow. 

Yellow. 

Black. 

Green. 

Green. 

Harl 

Harl. 

White. 

Gray. 



Wings. 



Brown. 

Gray. 

Gray. 

Gray. 

Red. 

Black. 

Brown. 

Gray. 

Gray. 

Brown. 

Yellow. 

Gray. 

Brown. 

White. 

Gray. 

White. 

Gray. 



Hackle. 



Red. 

Red. 

Red. 

Red. — 

Red. 

Black. 

Dun. 

Red. 

Brown. — 

Green. 

Black. 

Gray. 

Red. 

Bro^-n. 

White. 

White. 

White. 



25.0 Book of the Black Bass. 

The foregoing list embraces all of the flies that I use in 
black bass fishing, except the red, black, brown, gray, and 
yellow hackles. The last four in the, table are especially 
useful on dark days, or toward evening. 

Most of the flies in the table are general favorites, and 
in my own hands have all proved very killing. I merely 
mention them, to the exclusion of others, as a general 
guide, for each angler will soon adopt a few flies for his 
own fishing, none of which may have been mentioned 
above, but he will nevertheless continue to use them, and 
swear by them on all occasions; and this is one of the 
glorious privileges of the art of angling. 

As a father naturally thinks his own children the liest, 
smartest, and handsomest, I may be pardoned for placing 
in the above list — and strongly recommending as general 
flies — my polka, oriole, Oconomowoc, and Henshall, leav- 
ing to others the praise or condemnation due them. The 
formulas for their construction are as follows: 

Polka. — Body, scarlet, with gold twist ; hackle, red ; 
wings, black with white spots (guinea fowl) ; tail, brown 
and white, mixed. 

Oriole. — Body, black, with gold tinsel; hackle, black; 
wings, orange or yellow; tail, black and yellow, mixed. 

Oconomoivoc. — Body, creamy-yellow; hackle, white and 
dun (hairs from deer's tail) ; tail, ginger; wings, cinnamon 
(woodcock). 

Henshall. — Bod}^, peacock harl; hackle, white hairs from 
deer's tail; wings, gray (dove); tail, two fibers (green) 
from peacock's tail-feather. 

The Lord Baltimore fly originated with Prof. Alfred M. 
Mayer, of the Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken. 
New Jersey. Its formula is as follows : 

Lord Baltimore. — Body, orange; hackle, tail and wings, 
black, with small upper wings of jungle-cock. 



xIktificial Flies. 251 

Professor Mayer and I, being natives of Baltimore, and 
knowing that black and yellow formed a good and taking 
combination in an artificial fly, each designed, unknown to 
the other, a fly to embody these colors; and as they are 
the heraldic colors of the State of Maryland, and were the 
heraldic colors of Lord Baltimore, Professor Mayer aptly 
named his trout fly, " Lord Baltimore ;" while I designated 
my black bass fly, the "oriole," from the Baltimore oriole, 
or hanging bird, which beautiful songster was named in 
honor of Lord Baltimore, as its colors were the same as his 
own — black and orange. 

The following fly is one of my own designs, and at times 
is very killing. It is constructed entirely of metallic colors, 
and I give its formula in order that any one feeling an 
interest in it may try it : 

Golden Dustman. — Body, bronze (peacock harl) ; hackle, 
golden yellow; wings, bronze (wild turkey); tail, fibers 
from the crest of golden pheasant. 

Abbey & Imbrie have patented and manufacture what 
they call the " fluttering fly." It is made in the same 
patterns and in the same manner as the conventional fly, 
except that the hook is reversed ; that is, the tail of the fly 
is at the end of the shank, while the head is near the bend 
of the hook, or opposite to the point. 

Some of the best flies for black bass that I have seen 
are tied by George H. Burtis, Worcester, Mass. He uses 
the l^est material to be obtained, and his flies are at once 
artistic, beautiful and practical. 

Charles F. Orvis has long been favorably known for his 
excellent bass flies, and he sustains his well-earned reputa- 
tion for careful and superior work, and is indorsed by 
hundreds of our best anglers. 

The following is a list of flies that have been employed 



252 Book of the Black Bass. 

for bass fishing, and their construction does not differ much 
from that described by John Gay two centuries ago : 

" To frame the little animal, provide 
All the gay hues that wait on female pride; 
Let nature guide thee. Sometimes golden wire 
The shining bellies of the fly require; 
The peacock's plumes thy tackle must not fail, 
Nor the dear purchase of the sable's tail. 
Each gaudy bird some slender tribute brings, 
And lends the growing insect proper wings: 
Silks of all colors must their aid impart, 
And every fur promote the fisher's art." 

Professor. — Body, yellow; hackle (legs), golden brown; 
tail, scarlet ibis; wings, yellow, mottled. 

Queen of the Water. — Body, dark yellow, gold tinsel; 
hackle, red; wings, mallard, mottled. 

Grizzly King. — Body, green; hackle, gray; tail, red; 
wings, pin-tail duck or mallard. 

Soldier. — Body, scarlet; hackle, red; wings, gray. 

Montreal. — Body, red; hackle, scarlet; wings, wild 
turkey. 

Governor Alvord. — Bod}^ peacock harl; hackle, red; 
tail, red ibis ; under wings, brown, upper wings, drab. 

Seth Green. — Body, green, with yellow stripe; hackle, 
red; wings, brown (woodcock). 

Ahhey. — Body, scarlet, gold twist; hackle, red; tail, 
golden pheasant ; wings, pin-tail duck. 

Ferguson. — Body, yellow, gold twist; hackle, green; 
tail, peacock, yellow and scarlet ; wings, yellow and scarlet, 
and wild turkey. 

Kingdom. — Body, white, striped with green; hackle, 
red; wings, woodcock (brown). 



Aktificial Flies. 253 

Gold Spinner. — Body, orange, gold tinsel ; hackle, light 
red; wings, gray. 

Captain. — Body, gray, and peacock harl; hackle, red; 
tail, scarlet, green and wood-duck; wings, gray. 

Ihis. — Body, scarlet mohair, silver twist ; tail, hackle, 
and wings of the red ibis. 

The following flies are also good ones, some being great 
favorites with certain anglers: 

Reuben Wood. — Body, white, with red head; hackle, 
brown; wings and tail, rayed feathers of mallard. 

Dr. Foivler. — Body, white; tail, scarlet; hackle, scarlet 
and white; wings, red ibis and white. 

Green Drake. — Body, white, ribbed with black; hackle, 
ginger; tail; dark; wings, mottled green and yellow. 

Gray Drake. — Body, dark gray ; hackle, gray ; tail, 
dark; wings, gray (mallard). 

Broivn Drake. — Body, golden brown; hackle, brown; 
tail, dark brown ; wings, golden brown. 

Holherton. — Body, orange, gold tinsel; hackle, peacock 
harl and scarlet; tail, wood-duck and scarlet; under 
wings, red ibis and yellow; upper wings, peacock and 
wood-duck. 

SJioemaker. — Body, alternate rings of salmon and 
gray; hackle, light red; tail, wood-duck; wings, mallard 
(gray). 

Superior. — Body, dark claret ; hackle, brown ; tail, blue 
macaw; wings, wild turkey. 

General Hooker. — Body, alternate 3^ellow 'and green 
rings; hackle, red; tail, wood-duck; wings, tail feathers 
of ruffed grouse. 

Quaker. — Body, gray ; hackle, yellow ; wings, horned 
owl's wing. 

King of ihe Water. — Body, scarlet, gold tinsel; hackle, 
red; wings, bright mottled, mallard. 



254 



Book of the Black Bass. 




No. 1. Polka. No. 2. Coachman. No. 3. Hackle. 

No. 4. Bumble Bee. No. 5. Abbey. No. 6. Grizzly King. 



Artificial Flies. 255 

McLeod. — Body, emerald green, with gold twist; tag, 
3^ellow and red floss; wings, dark mottled brown; tail, 
green drake, with red ibis and mottled yellow; hackle, 
yellow; antennae or feelers, scarlet. 

Imperial. — Body, red, with silver twist; tag, silver; 
tail (whisk), red and white; hackle, black and white; 
wings, large, grayish white, bordered with black; feelers, 
scarlet. 

Green and Gold. — Body, emerald green, gold twist ; 
tag, scarlet; tail, white and read; hackle, yellow; wings, 
olive green. 

La Belle. — Body, pearly blue, silver twist; tag, red 
and gold; hackle, blue; wings, pure white; tail, red and 
white. 

Royal Coachman. — Body, scarlet, and peacock harl; tail, 
pin-tail duck; hackle, brown; wings, white. 

The White Moths, or Millers, are excellent flies for moon- 
light evenings, or at dusk. They may be pure white, or 
all white with yellow body, or all white with gray wings. 
The bodies should be made full and fluffy. 

The hackles and iKihners are made with bodies of vari- 
ous hues, as black, green, red, or yellow, or peacock harl, 
with either black, red, brown, yellow or gray legs. A 
pure white hackle is very killing about dark. A most 
excellent hackle is made from the hairs of a deer's tail, 
somewhat in the fashion of the " bob,'' so extensively used 
in Florida and Texas. 

The three "typical" hackles of Mr. H. Cholmondely- 
Pennell, and which he recommends to the exclusion of all 
other flies, are described as follows: 

Green. — Dark green body ; very dark green hackle for 
both legs and whisk. 

Brown. — Body,' dark orange ; fiery or cinnamon-brown 
hackle for legs and whisk. 



256 Book of the Black Bass. 

Yellow. — Body, golden yellow; darkish golden-olive 
hackle for legs and whisk. 

As I have described quite enough for the beginner, and, 
jDerhaps, too many, I will only allude to some by name, 
which may often be found equal to the above, and, for 
some waters, superior: 

Bumble bee, jungle cock, Hoskins, California, moose- 
head, widow, academ}^ blue jay. Page, yellow sally, blue 
and drab, pheasant, raven, claret, tippulium, Davis, Tan- 
ner, white and green, motley, premier, black and tan, black 
and gold, purple bass, fire-fly, little egg, gray coflin, brown 
coflin, sand-fly, stone-fly, hawthorn, dark mackerel, etc. 

It will be seen that the angler has quite an extensive 
list to choose from, for mos-t of the flies named are kept in 
stock by our best dealers. As a rule, the smallest bass 
flies should be selected for general fishing; and those of 
subdued tints will be found the most successful, saving on 
the exceptional occasions already referred to. As has 
been mentioned, most of the flies named are patterned 
after trout flies of the same names; and, while some of 
the latter are large enough, quite a number are too small, 
and must be enlarged somewhat for bass flies. 

But there are flies, and enough, to suit those of every 
taste, even should the angler be so fastidious and dainty as 
"Ye Sunberry Fisher," as described by ''Punch:" 

" Ye Simberrye fysher has flies of all feathers, 
For all sorts of seasons, in all sorts of weathers. 
Flies when ye Springtide is blustrie and showerie. 
Flies when ye Summer is grassie and bowerie, 
Flies when ye Autumn is golden and grainie, 
For hot weather, cold weather, mistie, or rainie. 
Red-spinner, palmer, black peacock and gray, 
Yellow dun, golden dun, March brown, and May, 
Sand-fly and stone-fly, and alder and gnat, 
Black midge and marlow bug — all round his hat." 



Artificial Flies. 257 

The Japanese are, perhaps, the most artistic and expert 
fly-tyers in the world. Some of their creations in this line 
are indeed marvelous. They excel particularly in the 
smallest flies, which have shorty plump bodies, and hackles 
that stand nearly at right angles to the body. They are 
mostly red, brown, black and gray, are tied on needle- 
pointed, barbless hooks, and with a minute gilt head; they 
are remarkably life-like when cast on the water. They also 
tie flies on barbed hooks, and with wings, but mostly for 
export. 

At the Chicago Columbian Exposition I was much im- 
pressed with the display of artificial flies in the Japanese 
exhibit in my department. One day, as I was judging their 
exhibit of fishing tackle, accompanied by the members of 
the jury of award and a number of Japanese officials, I 
called their attention to a case of artificial flies that were 
tied in bunches and hung in front of the exhibit. The 
case was open to inspection at all times, not being covered 
with glass. I remarked: 

" ^ow, here are some flies that are very life-like. They 
look as if one could squeeze the juice out of them; as if 
they might take wing and fly away.^' At that I lifted up 
a bunch with my lead-pencil, when, lo and behold, one flew 
out from the bunch, balanced itself on its wings a moment, 
and then took an upward flight, disappearing in the sky- 
light of the building. My auditors stood open-mouthed 
with astonishment, thinking, doubtless, that I had per- 
formed some trick of legerdemain. I was startled for a 
moment, myself, until I saw that it was a moth that had 
been having a feast of feathers while hiding behind the 
bunch of flies. 
17 



258 Book of the Black Bass. 

CHAPTER XV. 

ARTIFICIAL BAITS. 

"And therefore I have, which I will show to you. an artificial 
minnow that will catch trout as w^ell as an artificial fiy; and it 
was made by a handsome woman that had a fine hand, and a live 
minnow lying by her," — Izaak Walton. 

Probably in no direction havS there been more ingenuity 
displayed than in the production of artificial baits, such as 
trolling spoons, spinners, propellers and artificial minnows, 
frogs, Crustacea, insects and nondescripts. 

Trollin^g-Batts — Spoon-Baits. 

The most commonly-used artificial bait for black bass 
is the spoon-bait or trolling-spoon. It is now made of 
all shapes, and many sizes; but all are made upon the 
same general principle, and are merely variations of the 
original trolling-spoon, which was fashioned from the 
bowl of a spoon, a single hook being soldered to one end, 
and a hole drilled in the other end for attaching the line. 

By trailing or trolling such a spoon at the end of a 
line from a moving ])oat, it revolves gracefully beneath the 
surface of the water, the burnished surfaces flashing at 
each revolution, and proves quite an effective lure. 

The changes that have been rung upon the original oval 
metal spoon, with a single hook, have been, to say the 
least, remarkable; and it is, indeed, surprising to see the 
number of forms that have been evolved from that simple 
implement. Every conceivable shape into which the old 
spoon could be cut, bent or twisted, and still have it re- 
volve, has been resorted to; it has been fluted, hammered 



Aktificial Baits. 259 

and corrugated; grooved, ribbed and perforated; embossed, 
painted and nickel-plated; and doubled and trebled, and 
made to spin around floats and balls and metal minnows 
and flies, until the brain begins to whirl, and the eyes 
become dazed in their contemplation. Some are fearfully 
and wonderfully made, and are the most cruel and murder- 
ous-looking instruments of torture ever devised for the use 
of the followers of the meek and gentle Walton. 

There is nothing better than the original spoon bowl 
with a single hook. The double and triple hooks, usually 
attached to the modern spoons, are liable to be crushed and 
broken b}^ the jaws of a large fish, if hooked in a position 
favorable to this contingency. 

AMiy do manufacturers persist in aflixing the triple hook, 
or triangle, to trolling-spoons, when a single hook is so 
much more efficient, preferable and humane? There is 
nothing so effective as the single hook for any kind of fish- 
ing. The fish is more certain of being hooked, more cer- 
tain of being landed, and if he breaks away does not have 
his mouth so torn and lacerated as by the villainous triple 
hook or gang. I have found dead bass with the entire pre- 
maxillary bone (upper lip and jaw) torn off by these mur- 
derous implements. I never see or hear of an angler using 
or recommending a gang of three or more hooks for trolling 
the live minnow without setting him down as a pot-fisher ; 
and all humane and genuine anglers — those who love fair 
play and use light and elegant tackle — should deprecate 
and discourage the cruel practice. 

Trolling-spoons are all made with a concave and a con- 
vex surface; the latter surface being brightly polished or 
burnished, while the former is generally painted, and usu- 
ally of a red color. They are made of tin or brass, and 
often plated with nickel, silver or gold; but so long as 



260 Book of the Black Bass. 

spoon-baits are briglitl}^ burnished, it matters not what 
the material is, for the black bass is not a judge of metals, 
but will grab at any thing bright and in motion. 

The depending hook or hooks may be plain, or dressed 
with a tuft of feathers or braid, called, by courtesy, a 
" fly ;" but these fanciful additions, while pleasing to the 
angler's eye, do not enhance the " taking " qualities of 
the lure, for it is the flashing and glancing of the revolv- 
ing spoon that attracts the fish, and it can not be made 
more effective by these ornamental appendages, or, as I 
have sometimes seen, by the addition of a live minnow, 
or a strip of fat pork! 

One or two brass swivels shoiild always be attached to 
the spoon-bait or line, to prevent twisting or kinking. 
Particular attention should be paid to the hooks of troll- 
ing-spoons, for many of them are of inferior quality. 

The trolling-spoon has its legitimate uses, when it is 
properly made and judiciously emplo3^ed. There are situ- 
ations where the small revolving spoon with a single hook 
can be cast with a light rod and still remain within the pale 
of legitimate angling; but there is never any excuse for 
using more than a single hook. 

As a rule, most persons use spoons too large for l^lack 
bass, using generally pickerel baits. For the black bass, 
the^ spoon should be no larger than the bowl of an ordinary 
sized tea-spoon, for trolling with the hand-line; and when 
trolling with the rod, they should be still smaller. 

I am glad to note that some of our progressive manu^. 
facturers have become convinced that a single hook is 
better for trolling- and casting-spoons than the triangle or 
triple-hook, and at the same time more humane. It is a 
pleasure to me to mention some of them, in this connec- 
tion, with a description of their wares, for I have long 



Artificial Baits. 



261 




contended for the relegation of the triangle, and the adop- 
tion of the single hook. 

The Andrew B. Hendrix Company make a large line of 
single-hook lures, which 
are kept in stock by retail 
dealers. Their bass fly- 
spoon, though made of 
polished tin, is very effec- 
tive either for trolling or 
casting, being of the most suitable size. it is fur- 
nished with a steel snap, by which either a naked hook 

or a fl}^ can be af- 
fixed. One with a 
still smaller spoon, 
which is nickel or 
gold plated, is still 
better for casting. 
It has a spring- 
brass snap and brass box-swivel, by which can be at- 
tached a Sproat hook or a fly. Another one is the fluted 





casting-spoon, either nickel plated or enameled in white. 

Tt is furnished with a Sproat hook and double giit loop. 



262 



Book of the Black Bass. 



The " Irresistible " single-hook trolling-bait made by 
George H. Burtis, Worcester, Mass., is an elegant article 
with a gold-plated spoon, a long reinforced gut snell, and 
a first-class fly, with two bronze box-swivels and a twisted 
gut leader. It is shown at the bottom of the preceding 
page. 

John J. Hildebrandt, Logansport, Ind., makes a line of 

single-hook lures 
wliich are very 
popular with the 
anglers of the 
middle west. His 
trolling-spoon is 
fitted with a 
good, serviceable 
hook, and is a well-made and efficient article. It is made 
to catch bass and not for show or ornament. 





His fly-spoons are likewise practical, substantial lures, as 
they are made by a practical bass angler. He makes also 
trolling baits with two spoons, some furnished with deer- 
tail flies. It is worthy of note that the flies are attached 
to the shaft of plated piano wire by small, patented split- 
rings, so that they can be readily changed. Swivels are 
not necessary, inasmuch as the baits swim so perfectly that 



Artificial Baits. 



263 



the line is not twisted. In playing a fish the blades will 
reverse so that weeds are not liable to catch on them. They 
show decided improvement in every way. The spoons are 




especially neat and of small size, just what I have advo- 
cated for years. 

Abbey & Imbrie have patented a novel trolling device, 
with single hook, called the "ghost," made of aluminmn, 
and constructed on entirely new principles. Its rotary mo- 
tion may be regulated by curving or straightening the fins. 
It revolves freely upon the slightest motion, and is es- 
pecially recommended for surface trolling or shallow water. 
They also furnish single-hook casting and trolling-spoons, 
and weedless casts. 




H. R. Stewart & Co., Chicago, have patented and manu- 
facture two novelties called the " pilot," and " turn-a-frog." 
The former has two pair of aluminum wings, at right 
angles with each other, with a swivel at each end. It is 



264 



Book of the Black Bass. 




C 



designed to regulate the depth at which it is desired to 
maintain a trolling-spoon or other bait^ and is attached at 

some distance from 
them. When the 
line is attached to 
one end it runs near 
the surface, but by 
reversing it, it runs 
deeper, and as it al- 
ways swims upright 
it prevents twisting of the line. 

The " turn-a-frog " is also constructed with two pairs of 
fins, two horizontal 
and two vertical, 
and can also be re- 
versed. It is in- 
tended to keep a 

frog or minnow in an upright position when cast or trolled, 
and will run deep or shallow as required. 

Barnard & Markham, Jackson, ^lich., make the "Bur- 
gess weedless spinner," which is quite a unique lure. It 

consists of a long- 
shanked Carlisle hook 
to which is affixed a 
spinner of an odd, ])ut 
effective, shape. It has 
two wire fenders which 
precede the hook, thus 
preventing its catching 
in weeds or other ob- 
struction. It is well spoken of by those who have used it. 
It is designed, especially, for very weedy waters, where 
it is useless to troll with the ordinary spinners. 




Artificial Baits. 265 

Other trolling-spoons or baits are made in fanciful 
shapes; also many styles of minnows, propellers, spinners, 
etc., but they are no better, and many of them not so good 
as those before mentioned; for the nearer a spinning spoon- 
bait approaches the original spoon, already referred to, the 
more practical and useful it becomes. 

There is nothing in this line more beautiful than the 
abalone shell spoon ; and it will always be a " spoon,'^ for 
being made of shell it can never be bent or twisted into the 
fanciful forms of some of the metal ones. It is very ef- 
fective as a lure, and the smallest sizes are well adapted 
for the fly-rod in broken waters. 

Artificial Minnows. 

Artificial minnows for trolling, spinning, or casting, are 
made of metal, glass, wood, and rubber, large and small, 
and gilded, silvered, or painted in attractive ways. Some 
of them are quite successful as baits, while others are com- 
paratively worthless. They are made both in our own 
country and in England, and as their numbers, and styles, 
and forms are constantly increasing, I do not deem it ad- 
visable to ^particularize or give special descriptions. ^Vllile 
I have experimented with many of them, I do not employ 
them in angling for the black bass. 

For trolling or spinning, none of them are so effective 
as the spoon-baits; while for casting, they are not to be 
compared with the natural minnow, alive or dead. The 
most effective are made with soft rubber or silk bodies, with 
propellers, which cause them to spin. The most successful 
is the " phantom.'' 



266 Book of the Black Bass. 

Artificial Insects, Etc. 

Artificial insects, as bees, grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, 
May-flies, dragon-flies, and likewise artiflcial mice, frogs, 
crawfish, hegramites, shrimps, worms, etc., are now made 
Vfhich resemble the original creatures very closely. They 
are to be used in surface fishing, in the same way as arti- 
ficial flies, and must be kept in constant motion, otherwise 
the bass soon discover the deception; but if skillfully used, 
they are sometimes successful baits. They certainly have 
the recommendation of cleanliness and general convenience 
as compared with their original prototypes. 

Many years ago I was trout fishing on Slate river, the 
inlet of Gogebic lake, and was returning down stream, 
homeward bound on account of a heavy rain. I sat in the 
bow of the boat casting under the banks on either hand as 
my boatman paddled noiselessly along. On reaching a 
wider portion of the stream I observed a field-mouse swim- 
ming across, and when it reached the center of the pool a 
fine trout rose for it, but as he did so, saw me, turned tail 
and disappeared. I secured the mouse with the dip-net, 
and upon my arrival at the hotel I imparted what I had 
seen to a friend Avho was very anxious to kill a large trout. 
The next day he repaired to the spot and succeeded in 
taking it with the mouse ; it weighed fully one and a half 
pounds, and was a good fish for that stream. 

The Bob. 

Of all baits or lures used in black bass angling, one of 
the rudest in structure, the most nondescript in appear- 
ance, yet one of the most effective and killing in actual 
practice, is the " bob " of the extreme southern states. 

It has been in use in Florida for more than a century. 



Artificial Baits. 2&7 

and was first described by tliat quaint old naturalist, Bar- 
tram, in 1764. His description and method of using it, are 
identical with the " bob " and its use at the present day in 
Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. 

The " bob " is composed of a triple hook, or three hooks 
tied back to back, and invested with a portion of a deer's 
tail, in the manner of a large, bushy, hackle, often inter- 
mixed with red and white feathers, or strips of scarlet 
cloth. It forms a tassel or tuft, somewhat similar to the 
so-called triple-hook "fly'' attached to most trolling- 
spoons. A single hook, however, is much to be preferred 
to the triple-hook. 



368 Book of the Black Bass. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

NATURAL BAITS. 

"And, good master, tell me what baits more you remember." — 
I2AAK Walton. 

Minnows. 

Among anglers, the term minnow is used to express an}^ 
small fish used for bait, whether adult fish of certain fami- 
lies, or the young of others. But the term j^rojierly be- 
longs to the family Cyprinid.^, which comprises numer- 
ous genera, and some of the genera are composed of many 
species. 

The most generally diffused species are Notropis cor- 
nutus, the common shiner; Semotilus corporalis^ the com- 
mon chub; Hyhopsis hentuchiensis, the horned chub, and 
the steel back, Campostoma anomalum. The shiner is, 
by all odds, the best bait for the black bass, being quite 
silvery, as its name implies, and shows well in the water. 
It is not so hardy, or long-lived, on the hook, as the chub 
or steel back; but on account of its white and silvery ap- 
pearance it is especially desirable for turbid or rough 
water, and on cloudy or dark days, though it is, for that 
matter, a good bait at all times. 

The chubs r.re good bait on l-right days with clear and 
still water; they have rather tough mouths, endure the 
hook well, and are rather more lively than shiners, and on 
these accounts are preferred by many anglers. 

The young of some of the species of Catostomid^ 
(suckers), are also very good baits on sunny days, with 
clear and Ioav water; their tough, leathery, and projecting 



Natural Baits. 269 

lips are v/ell adapted for the hook. They are quite hardy 
and lively. 

The young of Perca americana (yellow perch), are ex- 
cellent baits on ponds and lakes, early or late in the season, 
especially if the spinous dorsal fin be clipped off with a 
sharp knife, or a pair of scissors. They show well in the 
water, and often prove an attractive lure during the seasons 
mentioned. 

As a rule, good-sized minnows should be employed, say 
from three to four inches long. The large minnows are 
livelier, more hardy, and live much longer on the hook 
than the small ones. A half-pound bass will take the 
largest minnow as easily and as readily as the smallest 
one, so there is no fear of using minnows too large. It is 
true, that at times, the largest bass seem to take to the 
smallest minnows, but on these exceptional occasions they 
are off their feed, to a certain extent, for, usually, the 
largest bass takes the largest minnows. 

In baiting with the minnow, the hook should be entered 
through the lower lip and out through the nostril ; if this 
is carefully done, the minnow will live a comparatively 
long time. Sometimes, with small minnows, the hook is 
passed out through the socket of the eye ; but this should 
only be done with dead minnows. Another excellent way, 
especially with large minnows, is to pass the hook through 
both lips, the lower one first, and out through the upper 
one. Wlien minnows are hooked in either of these ways, a 
dead one is often as good as a live one, for the moving of 
the line causes them to move in a natural manner. Where 
the water is without a current, as on ponds or lakes, and 
where the minnows are quite small, they may be, for still 
fishing, but under no other circumstances, hooked just 



270 Book of the Black Bass. 

back of the dorsal fin^ and just above the backbone. But 
in hooking a minnow in this way, the angler should bear 
in mind the injunction of Father Izaak, in reference to 
hooking the live frog: use him as though 3^ou loved him. 
Chubs and suckers should always be hooked through the 
lips, which are comparatively tough. 

The angler can not be too careful of his minnows. The 
water in the bucket should be frequently changed, without 
waiting for them to appear at the surface to breathe — the 
usually accepted indication to change the water — for their 
vitality and strength are already impaired when this takes 
place, and many of them can not be revived afterward. 
When available, especially in very hot weather, a piece of 
ice should be placed in, the minnow pail, and covered with a 
woolen cloth. A little salt, added to the water in the pail, 
is very beneficial and adds to the preservation of minnows. 

It is a good plan, when practicable, to use two minnow- 
buckets, one of wliich, containing most of the minnows as 
a reserve, should be sunk in the water, and a few minnows 
taken out,, as needed, for the bucket in use. In this way, 
the entire stock can be utilized in good condition. 

In carrying minnows to any distance, they should not be 
too much crowded in the pail ; fifty minnows is enough for 
a five-gallon bucket. When more than this number is re- 
quired, additional pails should be provided. A handful 
of water-weeds in the pail will prevent the minnows from 
being so much injured, as they otherwise would be, when 
conveyed over rough roads. 

When it is not practicable to allow of a frequent chang- 
ing of the water, the latter may be oxygenized or aerated 
by inserting a rubber, or other tube, well toward the bot- 
tom of the pail, and pumping air through it by means of 



Natural Baits. 



271 



a rubber bulb, such as is attached to a pump-syringe. It 
is worse than useless to blow through such a tube with the 
mouth, for the breath, being deprived of its oxygen in 
the lungs, carbonic acid gas takes its place, which is poi- 
sonous to the minnows; yet T have frequently seen this 
done by individuals, who erroneously supposed that they 
were freshening the water, because of the numerous bub- 
bles produced. A still better method of aerating the 
water is to dip it up with a cup, and pour back again 
from a height of one or two feet. 

Dead minnows are now preserved and put up in 
small bottles for the great convenience 
of the angler. They answer every pur- 
pose, as a dead minnow is just as good 
as a live one if kept in constant motion. 
I have seen the minnows thus prepared 
by The Curtis-King Company, Milwau- 
kee, Wis. They are mostly shiners about 
three inches long. As minnows are be- 
coming scarce in some sections of the 
country, this enterprise is greatly to be 
commended, both as a boon to the angler, 
and in mercy to the minnow. King's 
prepared shiner bait is now kept in stock 
by Abbey & Imbrie and other dealers. 




The Helgramite. 

The larva of the horned corydalis {CorydaUs cornuta)^ 
an insect belonging to the order Neuroptera, is variously 
called '' helgramite,'' " dobson/' " grampus," " dobsell/' 
"helion," "kill-devil," "crawler/' and other eupho- 



272 



Book of the Black Bass. 




nioiis names. The male of the 
perfect^ winged-insect has long an- 
tenna?, or horns, from which its 
specific and common names are 
derived. 

It exists for several j^ears in the 
larval state, when it is generally 
known as the " helgramite/" being a 
curious, flattened, and, to most 
persons, a repulsive-looking worm, 
growing to a length of two or three 
inches, and about a half inch in 
width. It has a head and pincers 
resembling, somewhat, those of a 
beetle; has six legs along the thorax; while the body is 
composed of a number of rings, to which are attached 
fringes bearing some likeness to small legs; the body ter- 
minates in two short appendages, or tails, on each of which 
are two small hooks. The color is a dark, dirty, brown. 

The helgramite, by means of its hooks and pincers, 
clings readily and tenaciously to different objects, and 
hides securely under rocks, boulders, drift- 
wood, logs, etc., even in swift-running streams. 
They may be found clinging to the decaying 
timbers of old dams and bridges, and in the 
crevices of submerged stone-work at these 
places. ^Fhey are found on the " riffles ^' of 
streams, under the boulders and flat stones, 
and may be taken in these situations with 
the minnow-net, by stretching the latter 
across the foot of the riffle; when the stones 
above the net are turned over, the helgramite, 
being thus disturbed, curls himself into a 
ball drifts into the net. 




Xatukal Baits. 273 

They can be founds in fact, hiding under almost any 
submerged object in the shallow portions of streams. 
They feed upon decaying wood and vegetation, and other 
substances. They can be kept alive for almost any length 
of time, in a vessel half filled with wet pieces of rotten 
wood, and damp aquatic vegetation. In this way the angler 
can always have a ready supply of bait on hand. 

The helgramite is hooked by inserting the point of the 
hook under the cap or shell that covers the neck, from 
behind forward, and bringing it through next to the head. 
It is a capital bait for the black bass, especially when the 
bass are found on the riffles or rapids, and in shallow 
water. 

The Crawfish. 

The crawfish {Camharus), sometimes called crayfish and 
crab, is, in some localities, £md at certain seasons, a good 
bait, especially when casting its shell, when it is called a 
^•' peeler ^' or a " shedder." The crawfish exists wherever 
the black bass is found, in greater or less quantities. . In 
waters where it is very abundant it forms an excellent and 
killing bait. 

" Distinct species live in the mountain streams and in 
tlie springs at their sources. Some frequent the marshes of 
the lowlands (both the fresh and salt marshes), either near 
the streams, or adjacent to the bays, sounds, or ocean. 
Some occur beneath stones in rivers, creeks, or branches; 
in the muddy basis; beneath stones in the rapids; among 
grass and weeds in more quiet places, and in coves; under 
shelving grassy banks; in holes at the bottom of ponds, 
lakes, dams, and mill-races. Others bore holes in the 
meadows, or even in the hill-tops near water; and in 
bringing up the mud and clay from their tube-like holes, 
pile it as a chimney at the entrance. These species at 
18 



274: Book of the Black Bass. 

particular times place a plug of clay in the orifice of the 
chimney and seal* themselves in for a certain length of 
time. Still others reside in the drains and mud of the 
rice-fields and plantations of the south, and sometimes 
burrow through the embankments, allowing the water to 
flood the region/^ 

The crawfish is used as a bait for the black bass only 
in still-fishing, when it serves a good purpose. In its 
usual state it should be hooked through the tail, but " soft- 
craws '' or " j^eelers '' may be hooked through the head or 
l)ody. They may be kept alive a long time in damp aquatic 
grass, moss, or weeds. 

Gt?assttoppers and Crickets. 
Grasshoppers and crickets are at times very taking baits. 
They should be used as surface baits entirely, and should 
l3€ employed only when a brisk breeze is blowing, and ou 
the windward side of the water; for it is at such times 
that they are blown into the water, and the bass are then 
on the look out for them. The water, also, being broken 
into ripples by the breeze, enhances the angler's chances 
of success. These insects should be hooked through the 
upper part of the thorax or body, small hooks being used. 

Frogs. 

On marshy streams and ponds, young frogs are often 
used for baits, with good success, in still-fishing. They 
may be hooked through the lips, or through the skin of 
the back. They should be of small size, and kept in pretty 
constant motion, as they are inclined to bury themselves 
in the mud, or liide under stones, on the bottom, or crawl 
out upon objects on the surface, if left too long to their 
own devices. 



Natural Baits. 275 

Salt-water shrimps, when they can be procured, are 
good baits for black bass, alive or pickled, that is, pre- 
served in salt or strong brine. 

I have seen black bass caught with cut bait, and even 
the humble " wum ; " but the angler who is reduced to 
such severe straits, is more to be pitied than envied. 

Frog-casting with a very short rod, five or six feet 
long, is now practiced by some anglers, casting overhead, 
as with the artificial fly. It is a method well adapted for 
very weedy waters. 



276 Book of the Black Bass. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

MISCELLANEOUS IMPLEMENTS. 

*' My rod and my line, my float and my lead, 

My hook and my plummet, my whetstone and knife. 
My basket, my baits, both living and dead, 

My net and ray meat, for that is the chief: 
Then I must have thread, and hairs green and small, 
With mine angling-purse, and so you have all." 

— IzAAK Walton. 

The list of miscellaneous implements is constantly being 
added to, to meet the wants or requirements of anglers. 
It is not only interesting, but surprising, upon looking over 
the catalogues of our large dealers, to observe the improve- 
ments and inventions that are being made, each season, in 
this department. Every thing that can be devised or 
thought of to increase the angler's pleasure or comfort is 
put into practical shape. 

The Fly-Book. 

Among the necessary adjuncts to the fly-fishers's outfit 
is the fly-book, whose images, well-filled, are more interest- 
ing to the angler than the best written pages of classic 
lore, poetry, or fiction. Fly-books are now made of many 
patterns and sizes, and of various grades of quality and 
material. They are constructed of calf-skin, pig-skin, 
morocco, or russia-leather, with parchment leaves, for 
holding the flies. Those with metal-clip, for keeping the 
flies separate and at full length, are the best and most 
satisfactory, for obvious reasons. They are made in vari- 



Miscellaneous Implements. 



ovis lengths, from five to seven inches ; and of a capacity for 
liolding from three dozen to a gross of flies. 

Every manufacturer has patented at least one fly-book, 
and some of them, two or three; and where there is so 
much competition there is sure to be production of good 
articles. It is really hard to choose between those now 
made, and the choice must be left entirely to the angler's 
taste or fancy as to the different methods of securing the 
flies, and also as to details of construction and finish. 

One of the most recently improved fly-books is 
the " Monarch/^ made by William Mills & Son, New 
York. It is made in several styles of leather, and 
of varying capacity, holding 
from two to eight dozen 
flies, and is of several sizes. 
Quite a novel and useful 
feature is a transparent cel- 
luloid pocket to each leaf 
of the book, in which can 
be placed casts, leaders or 
eyed flies, and which are 
visible without removal from 
the pockets. It has the 
usual metal scalloped band 

at the top and bottom of each page for the hooks of snelled 
flies, and two rows of spiral springs for holding the snells 
secure and apart. 

Other good fly-books are made by The Thos. H. Chubb 
Eod Co., Abbey & Imbrie, Thomas J. Conroy, and Malcolm 
A. Shipley. I have used fly-books made by these parties, 
and ail are to be commended, in the best grades, for work- 
manship, durability and convenience. 




278 



Book of tpte Black Bass. 




The fly-books of Charles F. 
Orvis have waterproof and mil- 
dewproof leaves. They are 
]nade in several sizes and styles. 
They have improved metal clips 
and a parchment band for 
keeping the snells in position. 
Their capacity is from four 
dozen to a gross of flies. 



Fly and Leader Boxes. 

A new article is a combined fly and leader box of alumi- 
num introduced by The T. H. Chul)b Rod Co.^ which has 




an aluminum comb at each end for securing snelled flies. 
The snells^ together Avith leaders, are covered by felt leaves, 
which are kept soft and pliable by the moist felt. 



Miscellaneous Implemexts. 



279 




Abbey & Iml)rie furnish the " De Witt " fly and leader 

box similar to the above. It is made of aluminum with 

aluminum comb partitions, and has three pieces of thick 

felt. It is quite moderate in price. 
An excellent fly-case 

for e3^ed flies is made l^y 

Charles F. Orvis. It 

has cork strips to 

which the flies are firmly 

affixed, and *\vhich- are 

firmly held in position 

by metal on three sides. 

It is well made and sells 

for a moderate price. 

Abbey & Inibrie furnish a metal leader-ljox, the " Hamil- 
ton/^ which is fitted 
with felt leaves for 
keeping leaders moist. 
It is of a convenient 
size for the pocket, 
with round corners. 
Xo fiy-fishcr shoidd be 
without a leader-box 
of this kind. It saves 
soaking leaders before 
beginning his fishing, 
or the more tedious 
process of rubbing 

them with India rubber, thereby causing vexatious delay. 
There is nothing handier than a good tackle-book made 

of good leather, in the bellows or accordeon style, so that 

like an omnibus it is never full. It should have half a 




280 



Book of the Black Bass. 



dozen pockets for leaders 
and snelled hooks, with 
sniall^ supplementary cor- 
ner pockets for loose hooks 
sinkers, swivels, sjooons, 
etc. Where looped leaders, 
double-looped snells and 
short-looped flies, or eyed- 
hook flies are used, it is 
just the article for holding 

the surplus stock. It shoukl be closed by a long and stout 

leather strap and flat loops. 




Creel, or Fish-Basket. 

For fi3^-fishing, or l:)ait-fishing, when wading a stream 
or fishing from the bank, a creel is very useful and con- 
venient for holding the angler's catch. 
Fish are preserved in much better 
shape, condition and appearance by its 
use, and it is altogether more satis- 
factory than the shiftless way of 
**" stringing '^ the bass, and allowing 
them to become water-soaked and 
flabby, by immersing the ^'^ string" in 
the warm and shallow water near the shore, or even by 
" towing " them after the angler, if wading. 

For black bass, the largest trout creels will answer 
every purpose; say Nos. 3 or 4, having a capacity of 
twenty or twenty-five pounds. The shoulder-strap should 
be leather or webbing, with a shoulder-joad, to prevent 
cutting or bruising the shoulder. 

Fish-baskets or creels should always be well washed, and 




Miscellaneous Implements. 



281 



carefully dried after use, to keep them clean and sweet. 
When washing them, a little carbonate of soda or carbolic 
acid should be added to the water to destroy the " ancient 
and fish-like smell.^' 

The best and safest basket sling is like the one furnished 
by William Mills & Son, which consists of a broad webbing- 
band to go over the left shoulder, and a leather waist strap 
fastened with a snap-hook, by means of which it can be 




instantly detached and the basket removed, should the 
angler fall into deep water. It is much handier than the 
old plan of slinging the basket from the right shoulder, 
as the right arm is left entirely free for casting. 



Landing-Nets. 

There is no reason why the angler can not now be suited 
in landing-nets, for they are made in every style, from the 



2S2 Book of the Black Bass. 

simple wooden-bowed net to the more elaborate and port- 
able net-frames of v/halebone, steel and brass. 

For boat fishing, the landing-net should have a long 
handle, which is best when made in two pieces, with a 
strong brass ferrule joint. It should be as light as possible, 
and on this account bamboo cane is the very best material 
for the handle. The rim or ring should be ten or twelve 
inches in diameter, of brass, solid or collapsing; the latter 
are the most portable and convenient, and are made with 
one or more hinge joints. The net should be deep, and 
of a tolerably coarse mesh; linen is the most durable 
material, though cotton will answer. 

For fishing from the bank, or for wading the stream, a 
short-handled trout net is to be preferred, as it is more 
easily carried and answers every purpose better than the 
long-handled net. Those with oval, wooden rims are the 
lightest, and are as good as any. The long-handled net 
will answer here by using but one joint of the handle. 
There should be a blunt hook, or ring, at the end of the 
handle for attaching to the creel-strap, so as to leave both 
hands free for casting, and playing the fish. 




The " Harrimac " l)rass collapsing net ring made by 
A. F. Meissell^ach & Brother is constructed on the same 



Miscellaneous Implements. 



283 




plan, with lock joint, as the expensive English whalebone 
collapsing net-ring. x\n advantage of this ring is that the 
net can be left on when 
folded. The " I-D-L " 
short-handled net ring 
is made on the same 
plan by the same firm. 
It is coated with rub- 
ber enamel, and has a 

rubber elastic cord hy ^ 

which it is carried 

over the shoulder. It will be seen that it is not necessary 
to remove the cord from the shoulder when landing a fish, 
owing to its stretching enough to allow this to be done. 
The wooden frame short-handled net made by The T. H. 

Chubb Kod Co., 
though not col- 
lapsing, is a 
very handy 
style of net for 
wading. It has 
a rubber cord to 
go over the 
shoulder. When not in use the net can be carried on the 
back, entirely out of the way. 

A very useful article is a minia- 
ture dip-net for dij^ping minnows 
out of the bucket. It is furnished 
by Abbey & Imbrie, complete, at a 
very moderate price. 

Minnow-Nets and Traps. 

For catching minnows for bait-fishing, the most expe- 
ditious way is to use a linen or cotton minnow-seine, from 





284: Book of the Black Bass. 

three to five feet wide^ and from five to fifteen feet long. 
These seines can be purcliased mounted or unmounted. 
The mountings consist of cork and lead-lines, with their 
floats and sinkers, and two handles or brails. The mesh 
should be quite fine. 

A very simple and effective portable net is described as 
follows : 

" Take a bung or round block of wood of two and one-half to 
tlire'e inches in diameter, and bore four holes opposite to each 
other in tne edge of it. Then insert a piece of umbrella-rib, 
about twelve to fourteen inches long, in each hole. The holes 
must he made deep and small enough for the wire to fit tight. 
The paragon wire is the best. Leave the end of the rib that 
has the little eye in it outside. Lay the bung and wires on a 
square piece of mosquito-netting, and stretch it and sew it 
firmly at the four corners to the eyes in the ribs. In the center 
of the bung put a screw-eye, and in the center of the mosquito- 
net sew a piece of string, leaving ends about eight inches long. 
Any straight, stiff stick picked up on the shore! serves as a 
handle, being made fast to the net by a strong piece of twine 
through the screw-eye, and with a piece of bread tie'd in the net 
with tlie string, and perhaps a small, flat stone to make it sink, 
it is ready to catch minnows. They will come over the net for the 
bread, and when it is raised quickly the resistance of the water 
causes it to belly, and the minnows will not get out. When bait 
enough has been taken, pull the wires out of the holes, drop the 
bung into the net, and roll it up on the wires." 

Another simple affair is thus described : 

"A globe of wire netting split in two, fastened at the bottom 
by hinges, and attached to a stick by strings from the top — this 
is the whole affair, save a small place in the center for bait. The 
two hemispheres are so arranged as to open partially from their 
own weight, if allowed to touch bottom; or they can be separated 
by pulling one of the strings above mentioned. As minnows are 
generally found in shallow, clear water, it is easy to see when 
enough have entered the trap, to close and draw it out. This 



Miscellaneous Implements. 



285 




invention does away entirely with seining, and the disagreeable 
necessity of wading in the water. The pole or stick upon which 
the trap is hung may be made of any desired length, and jointed, 
thus pei-mitting the entire apparatus to be packed in a small 
space." 

Malcolm A. Shipley, Philadelphia, 

furnishes a folding net, much like one 

I have frequently used. It is a very 

convenient article, occupying but 

small space when folded. When 

ready for use it is about three feet 

square. 

The glass minnow trap patented and sold by Charles F. 
Or vis, has been on the market for 
many years, and has proved a great 
success. It is constructed of heavy 
flint glass, about twelve by twenty- 
four inches. It is lowered into the 
water, and some bread crumbs placed 

inside. The cord by which it is lowered should be buoyed, 

if the angler is to remain away very long. 

The galvanized wire trap furnished by Wm. Mills & 

Son, is another in- 
genious device. It is 

to be lowered into 

the water and baited, 

the minnows having 

access at either end. 

The two halves nest 

together, so that with 

a common water pail it can l)e utilized as a minnow-bucket. 

It is, when set up, about nine by twenty inches. 





286 Book of the Black Bass. 

min-now-buckets. 

To the bait-fisher for black bass^ the proper form of bait- 
can is quite an imj^ortant item. There are two general 
styles^ one for boat-fishing, and one for stream-fishing. 

The best plan for a minnow-bucket for boat-fishing, and 
where a large pail can be utilized, is to have two pails, one 
fitting within the other. This form of pail is generally 
and conveniently made as follows : 

The outer bucket is of heavy tin, and made round, with 
a capacity of from two to five gallons ; a stout wire bail or 
handle is attached, with a wooden or tin hand-piece. Tlic 
inner bucket is also made of tin, to fit somewhat loosely 
in the outer one; but the top of this bucket should be an 
inch below the top of the outer pail. It has an opening, 
fitted with a lid on top, through which the hand can be 
readily inserted ; and has a tin-hasp and loop for fastening 
securely. In addition, there is a flat tin-handle, in the 
form of an arch, on the top of the lid, by which the inner 
pail can l)e easily lifted out. 

The inner pail is freely perforated on the top, bottom 
and sides, so that, upon raising it, the water leaves it 
rapidly, and a minnow can thus be readily selected. When- 
ever necessary, the inner pail can be taken out, the top 
securely fastened by the hasp and loop, and the pail sunk 
in the water to revive the minnows, while the angler is 
taking his lunch or siesta. Both pails should be well 
painted, inside and out. A better plan is to have the inner 
pail formed of copper or galvanized iron wire-cloth. 

For fishing in a stream, where the angler is a-foot, a 
much smaller and lighter bucket must be used, on the score 
of portability and general convenience. In this case, the 
bucket is made single, usually, and of an oblong or oval 
shape, to admit of its being more readily carried. It is 
fitted with a handle or bail, and the top is soldered in, an 



Miscellaneous Implements. 



287 



inch or two below the rim of the bucket ; and this top only 
is perforated. There is also a lid in the top, which is usu- 
ally secured by a bolt of stout wire. A double pail, the 
inner one being made jDrincipally of copper or galvanized 
iron wire-cloth, would be vastly more convenient, without 
adding much to the weight. 

The most recent improvement in minnow-buckets that I 
have seen is the telescopic minnow and live bait bucket 
patented and made by the Hall 
Manufacturing Company, Cleve- 
land, Ohio. It is made round 
and oval, and of several sizes. 
The 'No. 1 oval bucket has a mid- 
dle compartment for minnows,! 
and two end compartments for 
frogs or other live baits, or ice.^| 
The round and smaller sizes are 
for minnows only. It is made 
on a common-sense plan and is the best thing of its kind 

that I have seen. It is con- 
structed in a substantial man- 
ner of oxydized copper on tin, 
or japanned green and lac- 
quered. 
Closed. A very convenient receptacle 

for carrying live frogs, crawfish, crickets or helgramites 
is the live-box sold by 
Wm. Mills & Son. It has 
two compartments and is 
strongly made of galvan- 
ized wire cloth. The top| 
has a sliding cover. It= 
size is about six by twelv 
inches. 




Open. 





288 Book of the Black Bass. 

Floats, or Corks. 

The float should never be used when it can be dispensed 
with, as it is detrimental to good casting, and is always in 
the wa}^ It becomes necessary, however, in shalloAV 
streams, where the bottom is covered with snags, roots, 
weeds and other obstacles, and may be used in still-fishing, 
where crawfish, frogs or helgramites are used as bait; but, 
when used, it should be as small as possible, consistent 
with the weight of the sinker required, and should be em- 
ployed for the sole purpose of keeping the hook away from 
the bottom, and not as an object of intense and constant 
observation to indicate a bite. 

An egg-shaped, oval, long or barrel-shaped cork-float 
may be used ; or, still better, perhaps, a swan-quill or por- 
cupine-quill float may be employed with advantage, in situ- 
ations referred to above. 

There are several styles of adjustable floats that can be 
attached or detached without removing the hook. One of 
the best is one with wire spirals at each end. 

The Mascot float made by the Multi-Novelty Company, 
Burlington, Iowa, can be readily attached by doubling 
the line, inserting it through the hole in the float, and 
looping it over the end. The same company make the 
Pacetty float, which is designed to overcome the difficulty 
of using a float in casting the minnow. The line runs 
freely through a tube in the float, and in casting it rests 
against the sinker or swivel, but when the bait reaches 
the water the weight of the minnow and swivel carries 
the line slowly through the float until it meets a check 
fastened at the required distance. For weedy waters it 
answers a good purpose. 

The Bristol automatic float is made bv the Horton 



MiSCELLAXEOrS IMPLEMENTS. 



289 



1 




1. Mascot float. 
4. Bristol float. 

19 




Floats. 

2. Cork float. 
5. Pacetty float. 




Quill float. 
Adjustable. 



390 Book of the Black Bass. 

Manufacturing Company, Bristol, Conn. It is intended 
also for use in casting the minnow. It is adjusted accord- 
ing to the depth of the water, and holds securely; but 
on reeling the line, and when the float reaches the tip of 
the rod, a cam is released allowing the rest of the line to 
be reeled up freely, and the fish landed the same as if 
no float were used. 

The Swivel. 

A brass or bronze box-swivel should always be emplo3'ed 
in bait-fishing for black bass. It prevents, in a great meas- 
ure, the twisting, kinking and snarling of the line, so 
annoying to the angler. In rod-fishing, the smallest sizes 
— Xos. 5 or G — are large enough ; and, usually, no addi- 
tional weight or sinker will be required. The line should 
be made fast to one ring, and the snell of the hook attached 
to the other. In trolling, two swivels can be used with 
advantage — one attached to the snell of the hook or 
spinner, and the other attached to the line some two or 
three feet above. In trolling with the hand-line, larger 
swivels may be used — as Nos. 2 or 3. Brass or bronze 
swivels should always be used, as they do not rust, a strong 
objection to steel swivels. When sinkers are used in addi- 
tion, they should be attached about a foot above the swivel. 

There are various other kinds of swivels of more or less 
utility, one of which has a swivel at one end and a spring 
catch at the other. Another is a swivel with spring catches 
at both ends. Then there is the triple swivel, and the 
spreader swivel, though the latter are used more for salt- 
water fishing. 



Miscellaneous Implemexts. 



291 









wm 
wmm 



® (D CD 




8 

1. Adjustable. 
4. Rangeley. 
7. Mackinac. 



Sinkers and Swivels. 

2. Ringed. 

5. Lead coil. 

8. Bronze box-swivel. 



3. Swivel. 

6. , Split shot, , . . 

9. Krass box-swivel. 



392 Book of the Black Bass. 

Sinkers. 

Generally, in black bass angling, no sinker, in addition 
to the swivel, is necessary, the latter being heavy enough 
to keep the live bait beneath the surface. But there are 
cases and times when the sinker is brought into requisition ; 
for example, where the minnows used for bait are large 
and strong and keep on the surface, or when the stream 
is quite rapid or current swift. 

When the ordinary ringed-sinker is used without a 
swivel, the line should be tied in one ring, and the snell 
of the hook looped in the other. The smallest-sized 
sinker is usually heavy enough, though sometimes a larger 
size is necessary. Buckshot or small bullets should not be 
used when the oval sinker can be had, as they offer too 
much resistance to the water, and often cause the line to 
twist or kink. 

The adjustable sinkers are the best sinkers to use, and 
should take the place of the old-fashioned ringed leads. 
The simplicity and effectiveness of the various devices by 
which they can be put on and taken off the line, without 
disturbing hook or bait, should receive the approval of all 
anglers, and render their adoption universal. They insure 
neatness and dispatch, qualities not to be despised in 
angling. 

Most of the sinkers produced in this country are made 
by Edward Pitcher, Brooklyn, N. Y. They are ringed, 
the rings fast at each end, or with swivels, which turn 
freely. Then there is the adjustable sinker with spiral 
wire at each end. The Rangeley sinker is also adjustable. 
It is grooved through the middle, and has an ear at each 
end, which is to be bent over on the line, forming an oblong 
sinker. 



Miscellaneous Implements. 



293 



The lead-coil sinker can be cut to suitable length, ad- 
justed to the line and fastened by squeezing it tight. 

The Mackinac sinker is a round sinker, divided into two 
halves, in one of which is a screw and in the other a corre- 
sponding hole, by means of which it is adjusted and made 
fast to the line. 

The split-shot sinker is useful where a light one is re- 
quired, and is easily adjusted. 



Line Eeleaseb. 

A useful implement that will be ap- 
preciated by the fly-fisher on brushy 
streams is furnished by William Mills 
& Son. Should the angler get " hung 
up " on the branch of a tree out of his 
reach, its release is an easy matter 
should he have this article in his pocket. 
He inserts the tip of his rod under the 
rubber band and raises the rod, with 
the " releaser," straddles the twig or 
branch with it, and withdraws the rod. 
A slight pull on the string attached to 
the instrument cuts the twig, and the 
an,s:ler is again ready for the fray. It 
is furnished with a leather case for con- 
venience of carrying. 




294 



Book of the Black Bass. 




Cleaeing-Eing. 
The hook, in angling, often becomes fast or foul in 

snags, roots, rocks, or grass, and frequently is thereby 
lost or broken, to the disgust of the 
angler. By the employment of a clear- 
ing-ring the hook can almost invariably 
1)0 easily detached from these obstruc- 
tions without damage. These are rings 
made expressly for the purpose, com- 
posed of brass or iron, with a hinge to 
iidmit of their being readily adjusted to 
the line. The method of using them is 
as follows: 
The ring is opened at the hinge and the line encircled, 

when the ring is again closed and allowed to run down 

the line to the point of obstruction ; the 

weight of the ring detaches the hook, 

when it is drawn up, a hand-line being 

attached to the ring for this purpose. 

If the hook is very firmly fastened to 

the root or snag, the ring is raised a 

few feet by its cord and allowed to drop 

suddenly, when its weight will usually 

clear the hook. A very good substitute 

for the clearii^g-ring, and one easily ob- 
tained, is the ordinary bar of lead, used 

for making bullets. A hole is bored in 

the flat bar, through which the hand- 
cord is fastened. Wlien used, the bar 

is bent aroimd the fishing-line, forming 

a ring, and is very easily attached or detached. 




Miscellaneous Implements. 295 

disgorgers and extractors. 

Very often a bass is hooked in the gullet, and some- 
times in the stomach, though the angler should never allow 
him to gorge the bait to this extent. It is best to strike 
quickly, so as to hook him in the mouth. In the event of 
the bass swallowing the hook, it is necessary to cut out or 
tear out the hook, and often at the cost of scratching or 
lacerating the angler's fingers; and especially is this apt 
to be the case when a pickerel or pike-perch is thus hooked, 
their long and conical teeth being as sharp as needles. 

To avoid this unpleasant feature, a disgorger is very 
handy and efficacious. It consists of a stout piece of wire, 
six or eight inches in length, with one end flattened; in 
this fiat end a notch is filed, with cutting or sharp edges, 
when, by pushing this sharp notch along the hook, the lat- 
ter is easily detached or cut out. 

There are a number of ingeniously devised imple- 
ments for the purpose. One of the best is Foard's 
patent fish-hook extractor or disgorger. The direc- 
tions for its emplo3'ment are to use the end of the 
instrument corresponding to the size of the hook, 
draw the line taut, and run the instrument down 
into the bend of the hook; then clasp the line 
against the side of the shaft, and push the whole 
down till the barb is disengaged, and the hook will 
come out with the instrument. 

Another tool for this purpose has a V-shaped 
knife at one extremity for dislodging the hook, the 
other being a screw-driver, while the shank of the 
instrument is a file. It is a very useful, convenient, and 
portable combination. The file is useful for touching up 
the point of the hook, while the screw-driver may be re- 
quired for taking apart a refractory reel. 



296 



Book of the Black Bass. 



Angler's Pliers. 
A very iissful little implement is shown here, combin- 
ing six different tools in one, namely: 
1, strong round-nosed pliers; 2, knife for 
splitting shot ; 3, fine wire cutter ; 4, strong 
wire cutter; 5, screw-driver; 6, reamer. 
It weighs only four ounces, and is made 
of the best steel and in the best manner, 
and will be found thoroughly reliable. The 
cut is one half the size of the pliers. With 
this tool, a bit of string and a piece of wire, 
a broken rod or a disabled reel may be 
quickly remedied or repaired. It should 
be carried in every angler's pocket. 




Hook Lock. 
Anglers are sometimes annoyed by a dangling hook and 
line catching in brush or other obstructions when wading 
or fishing from the 
bank. The simplest 
plan to avoid this 
trouble is to place a 
rubber band around 
the rod al)ove the 
r6el, in which the 
hook or fly can be 
securely held, when 
moving about bushes 
looking for the next 
likely place to cast. 
A little implement 
has been devised by A. W. Bishop & Son, Eacine, Wis. 




MliSCELLAX EG us ImPLEME^sTS. 



29': 



to overcome this difficult}-. It can be instantly attached 
to the rod and covers the hook or fly^ and locks it to the 
rodj when the latter is not in use. It is nicely finished 
and can be carried in the vest pocket. 



Line Dryer. 

One of the most desira- 
ble articles for the angler's 
outfit is the Xichols' line 
dryer. It can be folded 
into quite a small space 
when not in use. To dry 
the line clamp the dryer to 
the rod, about eighteen 
inches above the reel, after 
having extended the arms, 
and fastened them by the 
thumb nuts to right angles. 
Attach the line, throw off 
the click or drag, and wind 
on to the frame quite loose- 
ly. The frame with the line 
can then be removed to a 
suitable place until dry. It 
is furnished by Abbey & 
Imbrie at a small cost. 




Closed. 




Open. 



Combination Knife and Screw-Driver. 

Two pocket tools that I would not be without are the 
combination screw-driver and knife, and the pocket caliper 
gauge, made by the Billings & Spencer Coompany, Hart- 
ford, Conn. Tlie former has three sizes of screw-drivers. 



298 



Book of the Black Bass. 



of just the sizes for reel screws, and in addition a good 
strong knife blade, all fitted into a nickel-plated handle. By 
raising the locking bolt and pressing forward the slide to 




end of slot the blades swing out; select the one required 
and draw the slide back into the handle and the tool is 
ready for use. 

Pocket Caliper Gauge. 

This is a light and convenient tool, graduated on one 
side to 64ths and on the other to lOOths of an inch, just the 
instrument for taking the calibers of rods, hooks, lines, etc. 
The thumb-screw is counter-bored to receive a spiral spring 
which bears on the nut and washer, thus creating a moder- 




ate friction, which, when the nut is loosened, facilitates 
the setting of the gauge to the desired measurement. It is 
finished in the best manner, and opens two inches. 



Miscellaneous Implements. 



299 



Wading Pants and Boots. 

Cervantes has said that one can not catch tront and yet 
keep one's breeches dry^ which remark will apply as well to 
the black bass fisher. In warm weather, and where the 
water is not too cold, I prefer to put on a pair of brogans 
and a suit of old clothes when wading a stream. But often, 
the water is too cold, or the angler 
is afraid of rheumatism, when rub- 
ber hip boots or wading pants are 
required. Either becomes quite 
damp from perspiration, and 
should be thoroughly dried imme- 
diately after use, otherwise they 
soon become useless. Wading 
pants esjDecially require much care. 
They should not be exposed dur- ,' 
ing winter to extreme cold, nor { 
placed near a stove or radiator / 
when not in use. \ 

Unless the angler procures the '( 
very best wading pants, I would 
advise him to stick to hip boots, 
for cheap wading pants are a 
fraud. The best are imported, as 
more attention is given to the manufacture of them in 
England than in this country. Abbey & Imbrie furnish a 
high quality of mackintosh pants with rubber feet that are 
as good as can be bought anywhere. But for that matter 
any of the tackle dealers of known reliability will furnish 
them. 

Wading Shoes. 

The best wading shoes have rubber soles and canvas 
uppers. They dry quickly and do not harden with drying. 




300 Book of the Black Bass. 

K'ext best are leather brogans. They are very comfortable 
and answer the purpose admirably, though it is necessary 
to take the best care of them in order that they may be 
kei)t soft and pliable; a liberal application of castor oil;, 
while wet, is the best plan for accomplishing this result. 
Very few anglers, however, attend to this matter as they 
should, and are very loth to give the needed attention to 
leather wading-shoes when through fishing; consequently, 
when next needed they are as hard and stiff as a board. 
AVading-shoes of any kind should have soft iron hob-nails 
in the heels and soles to prevent slipping on rocks. 

Rod and Reel Cases. 

Leather cases for the rod and reel are very convenient 
and desirable articles, especially for the angling tourist. 



i^- 



•-opo hf-'c r/ 



A good and highly-prized rod or reel should have the best 
care ; and a rod, especially, is liable to serious injury when 
protected only by a common canvas cover. 

The Thos. H. Chubb Rod Co., of Post Mills, Vt., 
the well-known manufacturers of anglers' goods, make a 
specialty of leather rod and reel cases. They are made of 
heavy bridle leather, with handle, and if re- 
quired, a padlock. The rod cases are made 
io hold one or more rods. To the angler who 
fiolights in completeness of outfit, I can cheer- 
fully recommend these useful articles. They 
will be duly appreciated by any angler who 
has ever made an extended trip to the woods, 
lakes, or streams by the usual modes of conveyance. 




Miscellaneous Implements. 



301 




Camping Bags. 

I have had more solid comfort, when camping, from the 
use of one of Kinstler's " war bags '' than from any other 
device of the kind. 
It is a non-rigid grip 
packing - bag, con- 
vertible and adjust- 
able, and always of 
the right size. It is 
made of heavy tan- 
colored waterproof 
canvas, height 16 
inches, length 23 

inches, width 10 inches. It has plenty of straps for 
handles or for carrying as a knapsack. It is a very com- 
pact article, either full or half full. It is made by Mr. J. 
Kinstler, Chicago, 111. 

Fishing-Boats. 

In l)lack bass fishing on lakes, ponds, and broad deep 
rivers, a boat is a si?ie qua non, and a part of the angler's 
outfit that should receive that attention which its impor- 
tance demands. A good boat in every particular is a 
blessing and a comfort that can hardly be overestimated. 

As a rule, anglers, while emplo3dng none but the best 
tools and tackle, do not give the same thought and care to 
the boats they use. They are inclined to accept any thing 
in the shape of a boat that will float, and seem to have an 
idea that all boats are cranky and leaky, from the calm 
indifference with which they will sit for a day with wet 
feet, or the philosophic unconcern with which they will 
spend half their time in bailing out the water. 

In the first place, a boat for fishing should be safe and 



302 Book of the Black Bass. 

light, dry, and capable of being easily rowed or paddled; 
and, in order to meet these requirements, considerable at- 
tention should be given to its model and construction. It 
should not be too long, and should have beam enough to 
give stability, but not so much as to render it logy. A well 
for minnows may be constructed under one of the thwarts, 
with a two-inch hole in the bottom covered with brass wire 
screen cloth, through which the water may have free access. 
With such a contrivance minnows will live for weeks. 

Of late 3'ears great attention has been given by builders 
to the construction of suitable small boats, for the angler 
and sportsman, at a moderate price, so that there is now no 
excuse for the employment of such death-traps as leaky 
scows and cranky, unsafe skiffs. 

I am aware that most anglers, who use boats, depend on 
hiring them at the usual fishing resorts; but that is no 
excuse, for the amount usually paid for boat hire during a 
fishing vacation would be more than ample for the pur- 
chase and freight charges of a good, safe, dry, and comfort- 
able boat. 



PART III. 



ANGLING AND FLY-FISHING. 




KENTUCKY BASS FISHER OF YE OLDEN TIME. 



The Philosophy of Angling. 307 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF ANGLING. 

" You are assured, though there be ignorant men of another 
belief, that angling is an art, and you know that art better than 
others; and that this truth is demonstrated by the fruits of that 
pleasant labor which you e'njo}^ — when you purpose to give rest 
to your mind, and divest yourself of your more serious business, 
and (which is often) dedicate a day or two to this recreation." — 
IzAAK Walton. 

In the days of good old Father Izaak Walton angling 
was, as stated by liim in the title of his famous book, the 
'^ contemplative man's recreation.'' While this is no less 
true in our own day, the art of angling has extended its 
sphere of usefulness by becoming not only the recreation 
of the contemplative man, but of the active, stirring, over- 
worked business and professional man, as well. While in 
the comparatively slow-coach days of the quaint Walton 
it was rather a recreation of choice, it has in this age of 
steam become, in a measure, one of necessity. 

The American idea of rest and recreation seems to have 
been based upon the Mosaic law of resting on the seventh, 
or last, day of the week. A man must first gain a com- 
petency and rest afterward, even if it took seven times 
seven years to gain the first condition, wealth, for then- 
only would he be entitled, or in a proper condition to enjoy, 
his otium cum dignitate. 

In the rapid race for wealth and distinction men labor 
night and day, with mind an9. muscle, especially during 
the seasons of business activity. But too often, alas, they 
labor in vain and find that the " bubble reputation," or 



308 Book of the Black Bass. 

the " wealth that sinews bought/' has in a moment been 
swept away after years of toil and anxiety. Or, if they 
make their footing sure, they find, too often, that the re- 
sult has only been attained at the expense of a permanent 
impairment of health, for which the dearly bought treasure 
is but a sorry recompense ; and the oft-imagined and fondly 
looked for goal of a life of peace and quiet and the enjoy- 
ment of the hard-earned competency, has been realized to 
be one of short continuance or of long bodily suffering. 

To keep pace with the rapid strides of trade and traffic, 
as much labor is now performed in one day as was formerly 
done in a week. Consequently, between the busy seasons, 
or " heats," in this race for wealth and place, men find it 
absolutely necessary, not so much from choice as necessity, 
to rest and recuperate and build up the exhausted energies, 
the tired brain and relaxed muscles, and to gird up the loins 
for renewed efforts. 

The necessity being acknowledged, the question then 
arises: in what way can this rest and recreation of the 
muscular and nervous tissues of the body loe best attained ? 
When men think of rest and relaxation their thoughts turn 
naturally to the woods, to the fields, to running streams 
and quiet lakes, or the sea-shore. If it is simply a Sunday 
stroll, their steps naturally and irresistibly lead them to 
green fields, or the river side ; or a drive along the country 
road with its hedges, and birds, and crossing brooks. If 
it is a day's holiday, it must be a picnic in the grand old 
woods, and near a lake, or stream, or at least a babbling 
rill. The very idea of perfect rest is associated with mossy 
banks and cool sparkling waters. It is doubtful if there 
is a sweeter line in human language, or one more expressive 
of perfect bliss, of lasting peace, of complete rest, of true 
happiness, of quiet contentment, than that of the Psalmist : 



The Philosophy of Angling. 309 

^' He maketh me to lie down in green pastures : he leadeth 
me beside the still waters." 

But the question : where can rest be found ? has already 
been answered in the crowds of tired pilgrims — they are 
called pleasure-seekers^ but they are looking for rest — who 
are seen each summer-time wending their ways by rail and 
steamer to the mountains, to the sea-shore, to the Adiron- 
dacks, to the Great Lake region, to the wilds of Maine and 
Canada, to the charming streams and lakelets of Wisconsin, 
Michigan, and Minnesota, or simply to " the country " — 
any place in fact is their Mecca where may be found rest 
and quiet, green fields, green hills, green trees, and clear, 
cool water. 

Then, the season for angling coming as it does during 
the midsummer vacation, in the pleasantest weather and 
during the lull in active business matters, presents at once 
the means and the opportunity for enjoyment and rest, for 
recreation and peace. Horace Greeley once said to the 
writer that he had been for years eagerly looking forward 
to the time when he could lay down his pen, for a few days, 
and '^ go-a-fishing ;" but that time never came during his 
busy life. His dreams of a brief season of what he con- 
sidered the very essence of rest and contentment were never 
realized — he died a martyr to an overworked brain. 

Rest and recreation to the active mind does not mean 
mere idleness, or as it is more poetically expressed: dolce 
far niente; this, to many, would be more irksome than the 
hardest work. Many men have a horror of going into 
the woods, to the wilderness, to the lakes, or the sea-shore, 
because there is nothing to do, nothing to occupy their 
minds, nothing to save them from ennui after the novelty 
wears off. The busy, active man can secure rest only by 
diverting the muscular and nervous energies in new and 



310 Book of the Black Bass. 

unaccustomed channels. This may be accomplished, in a 
measure, by cards, chess, music, reading, etc., as purely 
intellectual recreations; while riding, driving, boating, 
yachting, shooting, etc., furnish ample means for muscular 
skill and exercise; but angling brings into play both the 
mental and physical caj^acities. To be a good angler re- 
quires good judgment, much patience, rare skill, a full 
sliare of endurance, and a lively imagination; the latter 
quality is not absolutely essential, but it helps mightily 
w]ien " luck " is l)ad, and on it depends the aesthetic 
and poetic features of the art. 

But those who are disposed to " take time " to indulge 
in these or similar recreations, in our country, are com- 
paratively limited. In England it is considered part of a 
gentleman's education to know how to ride, to row, to shoot, 
to sail, and to cast a fl}^, and he is the better for it, morally, 
physically, and intellectuall}^. In our own country it is 
too often considered " a waste of time " to acquire or prac- 
tice these manly and healthful accomplishments. Our 
girls may learn music, and dancing, and painting, as means 
and acquirements necessary to the securing of a husband, 
but any attempt on the part of our boys to learn any of 
the manly sports, in a regular and systematic way, must be 
frowned down as opposed to all our ideas of thrift and 
economy, and a gross misuse of " time." What we need 
is more muscular Christianity ; we would then have sounder 
minds in sounder bodies. 

A few weeks taken from the fifty-two composing the 
year and devoted to angling, shooting, boating, or " camp- 
ing out," would not be missed in the long run from the 
business man's calendar, but, on the contrary, would return 
an interest, which, though it could not be computed by any 
rate of per centage, would be sensibly felt and realized in 



The Philosophy of Angling. 311 

a clearer brain, a stronger bod}^, and a better aptitude for 
business. The clergyman would acquire broader views of 
humanity, and preach better sermons. The physician 
would better appreciate, and oftener prescribe, nature's 
great remedies, air, sunshine, exercise, and temperance. 
The lawyer's conscience would be enlarged, and his fees 
possibly contracted. The poet's imagination would be 
more vivid; the artist's skill more pronounced. Nerve 
would keep pace with muscle, and brawn with brain. 

I have purposely avoided any allusion to the Gipsy 
blood inherent in our veins, or the savage traits yet mani- 
fest in our flesh, and their liability to crop out, as evi- 
denced in our love for nature and nature's arts. I do not 
look at it in that light. I claim that the more enlight- 
ened and civilized a nation becomes, the more it is inter- 
ested in the works of nature and her laws; that the more 
progress we make in the arts and sciences, and all the 
achievements of a high state of civilization, and the more 
artificial and advanced we become in our ideas of living — 
the more readily we turn for rest and enjoyment, for recre- 
ation and real pleasure, to the simplicity of nature's re- 
sources, 

" Knowing that Nature never did betray 
The heart that love'd her." 

Angling is an art, and it is not beneath the dignity of 
any one to engage in it, as a recreation. It is hallowed 
by " meek Walton's heavenly memory," and has been prac- 
ticed and commended by some of the best and truest and 
wisest men that ever lived ; for, as Father Izaak says : " It 
is an art, and an art worthy the knowledge and practice of 
a wise man." Did the art of angling require an apologist, 
I could here produce evidence, in precept and example, of 



312 Book of the Black Bass. 

good and wise men of all ages^ from the days of the Fishers 
of Galilee down to the present time, upholding and com- 
mending the moral tendencies and the healthful influences 
of the art of angling, and its virtue of making men better 
physically, intellectuall}^, and spiritually. 

" 0, sir, doubt not but that angling is an art/' says 
Piscator to Yenator ; " is it not an art to deceive a trout 
with an artificial fly? A trout that is more sharp-sighted 
than any hawk you have named, and more watchful and 
timorous than your high-mettled merlin is bold ? " 

Is it not an art to glide stealthily and softly along the 
bank of a stream to just where the wary bass or timid trout 
is watching and waiting, ever on tiie alert for the slightest 
movement, and keenly alive to each passing shadow; to 
approach him unawares; to cast the feathery imitation of 
an insect lightly and naturally upon the surface of the 
water, without a suspicious flash, and without disclosing 
to his observant eyes the shadow of the rod or line; to 
strike the hook into his jaws the instant he unsuspectingly 
takes the clever ruse into his mouth ; to play him, and sub- 
due him, and land him successfully and artistically with a 
willowy rod and silken line that would not sustain half his 
weight out of the water? Is not this an art? Let the 
doubter try it. 

" Doubt not, therefore, sir, but that angling is an art/' 
says Walton, " and an art worth your learning. The ques- 
tion is, rather, whether you be capable of learning it? '' 

Exactly so. Father Izaak; the question is, not merely 
" to be or not to be," but whether one is " capable " of 
learning it; for though any one may become a bait-fisher, 
it is not every one that can learn the fly-fisher's art; for, 
continues Walton, " he that hopes to be a good angler, must 
not only bring an inquiring, searching,- observing wit, but 



The Philosophy of Angling. 313 

he must bring a large measure of hope and patience, and a 
love and propensity to the art itself; but having once got 
and practiced it, then doubt not but angling will prove to 
be so pleasant, that it will prove to be, like virtue, a reward 
to itself." 

The art of angling, with the improvements and appli- 
ances thereunto pertaining, will not suffer by a comparison 
with the progress of any other out-door recreation. The 
love of angling increases with the lapse of years, for its 
love grows by what it feeds on. 

Wiser and more healthful and more humane sentiments 
now prevail among the guild than formerly, so that its 
practice more nearly approaches and deserves its appella- 
tion of the " gentle art." 

Fishing for count, and the slaughter of the innocents, 
and the torturing of the fish, w^ien caught, by a lingering 
death, now meet with the opprobrium of all true disciples 
of the craft, and have become abhorrent and despicable 
practices. 

The genuine angler "loves" angling for its own sake; 
the pot-fisher " likes " fishing for the spoils it brings, 
whether captured with the hook, spear or seine. 

The angler wending his way by the silvery stream, or 
resting upon its grassy banks, has an innate love for all his 
surroundings — the trees, the birds, the flowers — which 
become part and parcel of his pursuit; become true and 
tried friends and allies without whom he could no more 
love his art, nor practice it, than the astronomer could 
view the heavens with pleasure on a cloudy, starless night. 

It is the love of the stream in its turnings and windings, 
its depths and its shallows, its overhanging branches and 
grassy slopes, that gives to the art of angling its chiefest 
charm, and presents the bass o^ the trout to the angler in 



314 Book of the Black Bass. 

its true and proper setting of leaves and flowers and spark- 
ling water. If it were otherwise he would find as much 
pleasure in fishing in the flume of the fish-culturist, or in 
viewing the fish in the fish-monger's stall. 

Truly, the stream and its surroundings are all in all to 
the angler. I am not much given to preaching, though I 
come of a race of preachers, but I can not refrain from 
presenting to the reader the following eloquent similitude 
and beautiful comparison between the angler's stream and 
the stream of life, showing the easy and natural transition 
from the love of angling to the love of nature and nature's 
God. I feel more like presenting it because it is an extract 
from a sermon of one (Eev. Dr. H.) who has both the 
love of God and the love of angling deeply engrafted in his 
heart : 

" Act, therefore, while the day calls. Live its life as if life 
were complete in it. Not that it contains all varieties of experi- 
ence, but so joins the days before and after as to make them 
one stream, which your spirit should wade cheerily as the trout 
fisher wades his brook. 

" His brook is wild, because the trout loves waters where boats 
can not follow them, nor even lumber logs roll free; waters that 
twist and plunge, and shoot and eddy, with many a snag in the 
midst and fallen tree across. 

" And there the fisher seeks them by an instinct like their own 
—loving the bends that lock the pools, the shoals that embank 
the deep, the concealment of trackless woods, with their twilight 
noons and mystic noises, and every difficulty that teases him to 
more eager quest of his water-sprites. 

" When no upward flash meets his fly he reels his line in ex- 
pectation to give a merrier hum to the next throw, and again to 
the next, until all expectations are fulfilled at once when his 
wrist tingles to the trout's jerk and swirl and jump. 

" And still that wrist tingles through casts that take no prize, 
until another capture renews its thrill. Broken leaders, snarled 
lines, torn garments, bruised limbs, do not spoil his hilarity. 



The Philosophy of Axglixg. 315 

which feels the whole day's sport in every minute, the whole 
brook's beauty at every step. 

" And so with life. It is to be lived as a whole. Happiness 
comes from an energetic sense of its entire significance in every 
passing phase of it — in mysteiy, as giving value to knowledge — 
in failure, as the gauge of success — in evil, as the condition of 
^ood, which indeed is but evil overcome, and without the evil 
could not be — and in all alike as strides and casts of the confident 
soul, whose trout-stream from end to end is God. 

" And if by these the soul gains nought else, it gains immortal 
health ; fills its creel with secrets of infinite love and wisdom — 
wisdom too loving to wish less than man's perfection — love too 
wise to spare any pain necessary to attain Godlike end. Luck 
enough for time or eternity. Nay, eternal sport in time." 



316 Book of the Black Bass. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

CONDITIONS WHICH GOVERN THE BITING OF FISH. 

" So I have observed, that if it be a cloudy day, and not ex- 
treme cold, let the Avind sit in what quarter it will, and do its 
worst, I heed it not." — Izaak Walton. 

To seek to know all the conditions, positive and hypo- 
thetical, qualifying and exceptional, which govern the 
^^ biting " of fish, is about as vain and discouraging a 
pursuit as the search for the philosopher's stone. 

To know, positively, before leaving one's office, counting- 
house, or workshop for a day's outing, that it is the day 
of all others of the season, and that the phase of the moon, 
the conditions of sky and atmosphere, the direction and 
force of the wind, and the temperature and condition of 
the water are just right to insure success, and to know just 
what bait or fly to use, and in what portion of the stream 
to fish, under these conditions, implies a state of knowl- 
edge that can never be attained by ordinary mortals; and 
though we are created, " little lower than the angels," it 
involves a pursuit of knowledge under such extreme diffi- 
culties that even prescience and omniscience are but ciphers 
in the total sum, for it leaves out the most important factor 
in the calculation — the fish itself. 

Yet, it is in just this hope of reducing the matter to the 
certainty of a mathematical proposition that some anglers 
are continually puzzling their own brains, and taxing the 
patience of their angling friends. 

They imagine that fish, somehow, form an exception to 
the rest of the animal creation, and are governed in their 



C0NDITI0X6 WHICH GoVEEX BiTlXG OF FiSH. 317 

feeding, or " biting/'' by certain laws, as unchanging as 
those of the Medes and Persians ; and that these immutable 
laws have an outward expression in certain states and con- 
ditions of weather and water ; and that it is only necessary 
to ascertain the peculiar combination of wind, weather and 
water, under which fish feed, nolens volens, to be able to 
efect their capture easily. 

The glorious uncertainty attending the " biting " of fish, 
even at apparently favorable times, has been observed for 
ages, and has invested the gentle art with a glamour, and 
an air of mystery, in which the element of chance, or luck, 
is a prominent feature. The angler wending his way 
homeward is accosted at every turn with the interrogatory 
of, '• ^Yliat luck ? '' while " fisherman's luck " has become 
a-n universal synonym of failure. 

Many anglers, in lieu of more cogent reasons, have con- 
veniently relegated this whole question to " luck," and 
have ceased to trouble themselves much about it, taking 
the good with the bad, in a spirit of calm philosophy or in 
meek submission to the inevitable. 

Even while engaged in solitary angling, so conducive to 
quiet meditation, the habits and idiosyncrasies of fish do 
not often occupy our thoughts, but other and wholly irrele- 
vant themes. And even with all the information that can 
be obtained, by close and careful observation of the habit's 
of fishes, and the nature of their surroundings, there is 
still left much to l^e explained, and some things that seem 
to be beyond our comprehension, which we might safely 
leave to chance or luck, until we understand them better. 

And perhaps it is best so, for there has ever been a de- 
lightful uncertainty attending the angler's art, and therein 
lies one of its chiefest charms; for while it stimulates the 
angler to renewed effort, it consoles him in defeat. The 



318 Book of the Black Bass. 

pleasures of anticipation have ever exceeded those of frui- 
tion, and ever will while "hope springs eternal in the hu- 
man breast." 

The angler spends the evening before his " day's fishing " 
in overhauling his tackle; polishing the ferrules of his 
trusty rod; oiling his reel; looking for weak places in his 
line; arranging, lovingly, his leader, hooks and flies; and 
finds enthusiastic enjoyment in the examination of his 
treasures, and in pleasant retrospective and prospective 
reveries in connection therewith. 

He retires with contented mind, and an innate conscious- 
ness of unbounded success on the morrow, and dreams of 
arching rod and leaping fish, of mossy banks and murmur- 
ing streams, of cool shadows and spicy breezes; and when 
morn hath " with rosy hand unbarr'd the gates of light," 
he sallies forth with buoyant footsteps, his breast swelling 
with fond anticipation, and in that happy and exjjectant 
state of mind known only to lovers of the angle. 

Perhaps he returns at close of day, weary and footsore, 
and with an almost empty creel; what matter? All 
through the lovely day his spirits have never flagged; his 
last cast was made with even more hope and confidence 
than the first. And though his creel be empty, his heart 
is filled with the music of the birds, the purling of the 
stream, tlK3 fragrance of the flowers, and, above all, with 
love for his Creator; and it has set him thinking of that 
eternal stream of time clothed with everlasting groves of 
never-changing green. 

And, then, the day has simply been an "unlucky" one 
for fishing ; yesterday was no doubt a " good day," and 
to-morrow will be better. He finds consolation in ac^ 
counting for his " ill-luck," and can easily see a reason foT 



CONDITIOXS WHICH GoVEKX BiTIXG OF FiSH. 319 

it in some j^eculiar phase of the water, the wind, or the 
weather. 

Xow, while it is not wholly a matter of luck, on one 
hand, and while, on the other, it is useless to expect to 
obtain an invariable law in respect to the " biting " of fish, 
there are many things that we can learn by intelligent ob- 
servation. 

It involves no great comprehension of the sciences of 
ichthyology, meteorology, hydrography, entomology and 
botany, as professed by some, nor of the mysteries and 
hocus-pocus of the art as practiced by others; for there 
is often as little reason in the repeated change of a cast 
of flies by the scientific fly-fisher, as in spitting on the bait 
by his humbler brother ; yet both have unbounded faith in 
their respective methods, and probably faith has as much 
to do with successful angling as any one attribute. 

But why do fish eagerly take the bait one day, and utterly 
refuse it the next, when, apparently, all other conditions 
are equal? This is a poser, and has baffled observant 
anglers for ages, and will, in all probability, never be 
solved satisfactorily. As a short cut to its solution, it 
might be said that they were hungry one day, but not so 
the next. Certainly a very reasonable conclusion if it were 
sustained by fact, which it is not, if we Judge hunger by 
its usual manifestations; for fish seem to bite best on a 
full stomach, and often refuse the proffered bait on an 
empty one ; this fact is patent to all observant anglers, and 
I have proved it in many instances. 

But let us begin at the beginning. 

The great problem of life with fishes seems to be to eat 
and avoid being eaten. Very well. Now, which is the 
controlling influence in a fish's mind — if he has any, per- 
haps, in deference to authority, we had better call it in- 



330 Book of the Black Bass. 

stinct — his desire to eat, or his desire of self-preservation ? 
Now, right here, may be involved the fundamental prin- 
ciple governing this whole question of a fish's " biting." 

Let us see. That fish can abstain from solid food for 
an indefinite period, procuring some nourishment from the 
small organisms in the water they breathe, as in confine- 
ment, during hibernation, and during the breeding season, 
is well known, and needs no corroborative evidence here. 

That, when they do feed, and the supply of food is 
abundant, they completely gorge themselves — some even 
ejecting the contents of their stomachs to enjoy the grati- 
fication of refilling them — is also an authenticated fact. 

When their stomachs are thus filled and gorged with 
food, it is reasonable to suppose that, like other predacious 
animals, they remain listlessly about their haunts, or retire 
to some secluded retreat, to digest it at their leisure; and, 
during the process of digestion, refuse to notice their usual 
food ; for I have frequently observed black bass remain mo- 
tionless for hours, except a slight movement 'of the fins, 
utterly regardless of the schools of minnows that were 
swarming about them, and this at a season when they usu- 
ally " bite " the best. 

Now, this alternate feasting and fasting may be a neces- 
sary habit, to enable fish to meet the exigencies of spawn- 
ing, hibernation (in some), and the vicissitudes of the ele- 
ment in which they live, and the abundance or lack of food 
at certain times. 

Streams are often rendered turbid by heavy rains, and 
lakes and ponds by what is termed " working " or " blos- 
soming." At such times fish can not see well enough to 
find their food or discern their enemies, and consequently 
lie secure in their hiding-places. When the water becomes 
clear, they again venture forth to eat and be eaten. 



COXDITIOXS WHICH GOVEKX BiTIXG OF FiSH. 321 

Then, heavy and continued rains, violent winds, and the 
change of season, affect the food-supply of fishes, and, con- 
sequently, the fishes themselves. These various causes 
make fish seem capricious in their time and manner of 
feeding. 

Then, again, while all the conditions may be favorable 
for their feeding, they may be deterred from seeking their 
food by a fear of enemies, and onl}^ venture forth when 
the cause of such fear has disappeared, or their qualms of 
stomach overcome their prudence. 

But little can be learned in this respect from fishes that 
are confined in aquaria, or from those that are artificially 
cultivated, for these unnatural conditions presuppose a 
change in their habits. 

We know that fish, in their native waters, are quite 
timid, and ever on the alert for danger — a footstep on 
the bank, or a shadow cast suddenly on the water, will 
cause them to hastily skurry away. 

No food, however tempting, can entice them so long as 
there is an appearance of danger, and their caution is then 
set doAvn as eccentricity. 

Xow, all this may, or may not, be ; but it is as reasonable 
as any other theory; and this habit of alternate feasting 
and fasting, for a longer or a shorter time, will explain, in 
some measure, many of the features in regard to the un- 
certainty of " biting " in fishes of inland waters. 

We really know very little about it. We only know that 
when fishing a favorable locality where there are " thou- 
sands " of black bass, or even in small, circumscribed waters 
where there are certainly " hundreds," we do well, by the 
most careful fishing, to secure a half-dozen or a score of 
fish, as the case may be, on the most propitious occasions. 

Why is it then that so few, out of so many, respond to 
21 



322 Book of the Black Bass. 

the angler's fly or bait ? It is best that it is so ; but why 
is it so ? This is a query that naturally rises to the angler's 
mind^ especially after an unsuccessful day. 

I might answer this question by asking another: Why 
is it that the sportsman in a day's outing, with the best 
dogs^ finds so few grouse or quail in comparison to the great 
numbers known to " use " in certain localities ? 

The inference is plain in either case, for self-preservation 
is the first law of nature; but while the sportsman is fully 
conscious of this, the angler is usually not so logical, be- 
cause he does not reflect upon the fact that the fish is as 
fully aware of his presence as the grouse or quail is of that 
of the sportsman and his dogs. 

Then again we should not expect to find all the fish on 
the feed at the same time; if we did so we would have no 
cause to complain of their not rising or biting. In the 
struggle for existence among animals, including fishes, it is 
the majority that obtains enougli to satisfy its wants, and 
the minority only that does not. Then it is from the mi- 
nority, in all probability, that we must look for the few 
that are likely to see and take our lure. 

Predacious fishes feed almost entirely at night, only the 
hungry ones, perhaps, that do so during the day; and 
though we often take fish with their stomachs full, they 
are evidently still on the feed, for such food is usually in a 
fresh or undigested condition, showing that it has been 
recently swallowed. 

Predacious fishes are more active during tlie night, and, 
I believe, rest, or sleep during the day, while the smaller 
fishes, as minnows, etc., are more active during daylight; 
for it is not unlikely that they seclude themselves, or keep 
in very shallow water, during the night, to prevent their 
being swallowed by their larger and piscivorous congeners. 



Conditions which Govern Biting of Fish. 323 

As predacious fishes then feed mostly by night, we would 
naturally expect to find them at that time where their food 
was most plentiful; and this is really the case, for I have 
observed that they were always near the shores or on the 
shallows at night, in water so shallow, in fact, that their 
dorsal fins were often out of the water. Any one who 
w^ll take the trouble to proceed cautiously along the shores 
at night, with a lantern, can verify this statement. 

It is well known that the last few hours of daylight are 
the best for fly-fishing, which I account for by the fact that 
the fish are then approaching the shallows and shores in 
their nightly search for food; and as they only rise to the 
fly in comparatively shallow water, the conditions are thus 
more favorable for the fiy-fisher. 

The hypothesis, then, that game-fishes feed mostly at 
night and rest or sleep by day, and that it is only the few 
that failed to fully satisfy their appetites the night before 
that are apt to respond to the wiles of the angler, is quite 
a reasonable one, and one that will account for much of 
the " bad luck '' of the angler. 

As before stated, there is much that can be learned by 
closely observing the habits of fish, the character of their 
haunts, and the nature and variety of their food; so as to 
enable the angler to know% so far as can be known, when 
and where to find the fish at certain seasons, or at different 
stages of the water ; when they are most inclined to " bite ;" 
and to know, approximately, what bait to use. 

This information can be acquired in no other way but 
by patient and continued observation; and, without it, all 
is guess-work. It is just as essential to the angler to know 
where to fish, as to know how. If he has a fair knowledge 
of the habits of game-fish, he can at once seek out the most 
likely places, on lake or stream, by seeming intuition. 



324 Book of the Black Bass. 

Black bass are found at different localities in the same 
waters, at different seasons, and frequently shift their quar- 
ters many times during the same season, depending on the 
nature and locality of their food, the influences of wind 
and weather, condition of the water, etc. 

Thus, early in the season, they will l)e found on streams 
in shallow water, just below the rapids, or " riffles," where 
the water is warmest, feeding on helgramites and other 
larvae, Crustacea, minnows, etc. As the water gets warmer, 
they resort to stiller water, under overhanging trees, and 
feed upon the surface when the insects and flies appear. 
Still later, they seek greater depths, adjacent to shelving 
banks, gravelly shoals and rocky ledges, seeking minnows, 
Crustacea, etc. 

They may be found one day in water, say ten feet deep, 
and the very next day be seen in the shallowest water near 
shore. I will mention a striking instance of this kind : 

On one occasion, I went in company with a party of 
expert anglers to Upper Nemahbin Lake, near Delafield, 
Wisconsin. My companion was Captain B., who exhibited 
considerable impatience and concern because of the other 
boats starting ahead of us over the favorite fishing-ground ; 
but I saw that the three other boats were proceeding over 
this ground — where, on the preceding day, I had taken a 
fine lot of bass — without getting so much as " a bite." 

We followed in their wake, casting right and left along 
the edge of the bulrushes, but in vain; until, finally, we 
reached the end of the line of rushes, at the inlet of the 
lake. Captain B. was discouraged, but I, on the contrary, 
was elated — for I had observed the dorsal fins of numer- 
ous bass in the shallow water between the rushes and the 
shore; and I had observed, further, that the bass were 



Conditions which Govekn Biting of Fish. 325 

feeding on insects and flies which were being blown into 
the water by a brisk wind. 

I proposed fishing back over the same ground to the evi- 
dent disgust of the Captain. But I began casting between 
the bulrushes and the shore, in the shallow water under 
the lee of the bank, and fastened to a large bass at almost 
the first cast. The Captain followed my lead; and, on 
arriving at our original starting-point, a few hundred yards 
distant, we had taken fifteen fine bass. The three boats 
had made the entire circuit of the lake, and the six anglers 
in them, fishing on the usual grounds, had not, altogether, 
taken half as many fish, when they joined us for luncheon. 

In lacustrine waters, black bass first appear in the shal- 
lowest portions, where the water is warm, and feed upon 
Crustacea, mollusks, etc., retiring to deeper water as the 
season advances, ^^^len the patches of rushes and other 
aquatic plants are well grown, they will be found near 
them, feeding on the minnows and small fry which con- 
gregate there. When the ephemeral flies of early summer 
appear, the bass will then be found where these are most 
numerous ; and they, at this time, feed at the surface. 

I was once fly-fishing for bass in the Neenah Channel, 
at the outlet of Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin. The stream 
was quite swift, with a rocky bottom, and the surface was 
covered with May-flies, upon which the bass were feeding. 
I Avas enjoying royal sport, using a cast of two browoi 
hackles, and frequently fastened a fish to each fly. 

A boat-load of rustic anglers, with tamarack 23oles and 
short lines, seeing my success, dropped down abreast of 
me, and anchored within fifty feet of my boat. They were 
using small minnows for bait, with heavy sinkers on their 
lines, which, of course, carried the bait to the bottom, 
where were feeding schools of white bass (Roccus cJiry- 



326 Book of the Black Bass. 

sops). As I took only black bass from the surface, they 
caught nothing but white bass at the bottom. They could 
not understand it, and I did not enlighten them, for I had 
no desire to see my pet fish " yanked out " by tamarack 
poles and tow strings. I left them, shortly, in the glory 
of " snaking out " — as they called it — the unfortunate 
white bass, wondering, meanwhile, why they could not 
catch black bass like " that other fellow." 

But do we really know any of the conditions favorable 
or unfavorable for angling? We are told that fish will 
not bite when the water is rendered high and turbid by 
freshets; during a thunder-storm, with heavy rain; on 
dark, cold days, with a blustering east wind; and on 
bright, still and hot days, when the water lies unruffled, 
like a burnished mirror. If this be so, it is extremely 
fortunate, and we can apply the rule of exclusion here, 
and at once dismiss all such occasions from further con- 
sideration; for I take it for granted that the reader has 
no desire to " go-a-fishing " at such times. 

Fortunately, again, the season for angling is during 
pleasant weather, in spring, summer and autumn; and I 
have always observed that the pleasantest days for the an- 
gler's comfort, were usually the most propitious and suc- 
cessful days for angling. 

It matters little, for bait-fishing, whether the day be 
bright or cloudy, or whether the wind is in the east, west, 
north, or south, so long as it is a pleasant wind, and is 
not too raw and chilly. I have had "good luck" with 
the wind in either quarter, and from a gentle breeze to 
half a gale; on days that were hot, bright, and cloudless, 
as well as on those that were cloudy and rather cool. 

To be sure, it makes some difference as to the character 
of the waters; the pleasantest days are best for small 



Conditions which Govern Biting of Fish. 327 

streams and shallow waters, while the more unlikely days 
would better suit lakes and deep waters; though in either 
case, the pleasantest days, in all respects, are the best. 

The fish in deep waters are not so easily affected by the 
vicissitudes of weather, as those in waters of shallow depth. 
As exceptional cases I might add that I have had as good 
success v\^ith a reefing east wind, or a half-gale from the 
north-west, on lakes of good depth, as at, seemingly, the 
most favorable times. 

Once, on La Belle Lake, at Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, I 
went fishing when the wind was blowing quite fresh from 
the west. I proceeded to the lower end of the lake, some 
three miles, when the wind suddenly hauled around to the 
north-west, blowing great guns, and causing the "white- 
caps " to roll furiously. It was impossible to make head- 
way against it, so I was compelled to anchor, which I did 
in a bight of bulrushes, in water from ten to twelve feet 
deep, but near a gravelly bar. Here I took, in a little 
more than two hours, twenty-five black bass, which after- 
ward turned the scales at seventy-five pounds. I have 
always considered this catch as being one of the best I 
ever made. On my return, owing to the high wind and 
heavy sea, it was all I could do to keep my boat from 
swamping. 

On another occasion, on Oconomowoc Lake, I.fisbed at a* 
rocky bar, which divided the lake into two portions. The 
wind was blowing a half-gale from the east, and quite 
cool ; the shallow water on the bar was churned and tossed 
into billows of seething foam by the high wind, enabling 
me to fish in water but a foot or two in depth; and in a 
short time I took nine bass, the smallest of which weighed 
four pounds. 

Again, on Genesee Lake, in the same locality, I once 



328 Book of the Black Bass. 

made a good catch under peculiar circumstances. On this 
occasion I was " frogging/' as this lake at that time was 
famous for the quantity and quality of its bull-frogs. 
After spearing a " good mess " of greenbacks, I was stand- 
ing on a sand-bar, which divides the lake into two parts 
during low water, and was idly watching the waves rolling 
up on the bar, which were being driven with great fury 
by a strong south-west wind. I chanced to see several 
black bass, evidently feeding in the surf; and I then be- 
gan devising ways and means for their capture. 

Near by, was a water-logged boat, in which I saw a 
tamarack pole, and, upon investigation, I found that there 
was a short line and hook attached. My plans were soon 
formed. I went to a small hole of water, that I had ])re- 
viously observed, which was left after the drying up of the 
outlet of a marsh at the lower end of the lake, and in 
which I had seen a great many small minnows, an inch or 
two long. Dipping up a lot in my handkerchief, I took 
it by the corners and proceeded along the shore, dipping 
up water occasionally to keep the bait alive. On the bar 
I scooped a hole in the sand for the bait, filled it with 
water and went to fishing. The novelty of the situation, 
and my curiosity as to the result of the experiment, quieted 
my conscience and justified the employment of such prim- 
itive measures. Baiting the hook, I waded into the surf 
as far as I could with ordinary boots — for, being early in 
the season, the water was quite cold — I was soon pulling 
out the bass, and took in this manner, with a short pole 
and six feet of line, fifteen splendid bass. 

In angling, it may be safely accepted as a truism, that 
any wind is better than no wind ; a gale being better than 
a perfectly still day, especially when the water is clear. 
The reason for this is, that the surface of the water being 



Conditions which Govern Biting of Fish. 320 

agitated and ruffled by the breeze, the fish are not so apt 
to see the angler. 

An east wind is popularly regarded as an unfavorable 
wind for fishing, but it is not necessarily so. The opinion 
is of English origin, for in the humid climate of Great 
Britain an east wind is exceedingly raw, chilly, and dis- 
agreeable, and is held to be productive of all manner of 
evils, being particularly dreaded by sufferers from rheuma- 
tism, neuralgia, or gout. The anglers of England, of 
course, share in this common detestation of an east wind, 
and this prejudice is clearly shown by British writers on 
angling, from whom most of our ideas on fishing were 
formerly derived. 

But it is only after such a wind has prevailed for several 
days, so as to lower the temperature of inland waters, that 
it, in any way, affects the " biting " of fish. This, no 
doubt, is often the case in Great Britain, and has led to the 
erroneous supposition that an east wind, under any and all 
circumstances, is most unfavorable for the angler; and this 
idea has, to a great extent, been tacitly accepted to apply 
to our own country as well. 

But unless the fish have an inherited traditionary re- 
membrance of that " remarkable east wind " which divided 
the waters of the Eed Sea and enabled Moses and his fol- 
lowers to pass over dry-shod, which causes them to become 
suspicious of every east wind that blows, I can not conceive 
how it affects their feeding, except, as stated before, when 
it has been of sufficiently long continuance to cool the 
water. 

Along the Atlantic coast of the United States an east 
wind is generally held to be unpropitious for fishing; but 
in this case post hoc is mistaken for propter hoc; in other 
words, the effect is mistaken for the cause. After an un- 



330 Book of the Black Bass. 

usually long series of east winds, or easterly gales, the 
tides are much affected thereby, and rise much higher, and 
spread over more extensive surfaces. The fish, as a matter 
of course, take advantage of this state of affairs, and ex- 
tend their range in quest of food, being rewarded by great 
quantities of Crustacea, mollusks, etc., which before were 
inaccessible on account of the shallow water. At such 
times, the fish are not found on their usual feeding grounds 
in the tideways, and hence has arisen the erroneous idea 
that they do not feed during an east wind. 

Many ])ait-fishers have an abiding faith in the signs of 
the Zodiac in influencing the biting of fish; believing that 
when the ^"^ sign " is in the feet (Pisces), and also just be- 
fore and after, encroaching on the domains of tlie legs 
(Aquarius), and head (Aries), that fish feed better than at 
other times. They, of course, always remember the suc- 
cessful occasions at these periods, but soon forget, or im- 
agine some satisfactory reason for, the failures; and thus 
their superstitious belief seldom weakens. 

The moon, likewise, is supposed by many to influence 
the feeding of fish. In Florida, the opinion is very preva- 
lent among hunters and fishermen, that deer, fish, and 
other animals feed principally when the moon is above the 
horizon, night or day, particularly at moon-rise, moon- 
south, and moon-set. This belief also obtains in other 
sections of our country, and the adherents to the theory 
are, withal, so consistent, that their faith can not be shaken 
by repeated failures, and they seldom hunt or fish except 
when the " moon is right." 

Wliile I am not a believer in the theory of the moon's 
influence over terrestrial objects, I am not prepared to say 
that there is nothing whatever in the moon affecting the 
feeding of fish; for while fish certainly feed mostly at 



Conditions which Govern Biting of Fish. 331 

night, they seem to feed more especially on moonlight 
nights. Still, I do not attribute this fact to any influence 
possessed by the moon beyond the light it affords to enable 
the fish to find their prey. I have often observed that 
during the season of full-moon, fish were more apt to be 
sluggish and off their feed during the day time; and this 
I have always attributed to the fact that they did their 
feeding mostly at nights, at such times. Many anglers only 
fish from the last quarter until the new moon — that is, 
during the " dark of the moon.'' 

A perfect day for fishing might be described as a warm, 
pleasant day, with a balmy, invigorating breeze; a mellow 
sunlight, not too bright, produced by a somewhat hazy 
atmosphere, or by drifting clouds; when the season has 
been neither too wet nor too dry; such a day as makes it 
a pleasure for one to breathe, and inhale with delight the 
odors and fragrance of forest, field, and stream. 

Not a day that produces a feeling of exquisite languor, 
and disposes to delicious, dreamy reveries, like the stimu- 
lant effect of an opiate; but a day when the atmosphere 
seems filled with some indescribable aerial stimulant, that 
acts upon the brain, nerves, and circulation like sparkling 
wine ; that rouses the energies and spurs the nerves, pulses, 
and muscles to action; such a day as makes one desire to 
laugh, to sing, to leap, to caper, to race through the 
meadows, to indulge in sudden impulses, in short, to make 
one feel a boy again. 

Such a day, when the water is semi-transparent or trans- 
lucent, and of such a temperature when it is most pleasant 
to bathe in — such a day, I say, is sure to be a satisfactory 
one to the angler, and the fish will be pretty sure to bite. 

On a day such as I have just described, I once made my 
largest catch of black bass, though I have always been 



332 Book of the Black Bass. 

opposed to " big catches/' on principle ; for I hold that 
when the sole object in angling is to catch fish as long as 
they will " bite/' the proceeding leaves the province of 
sport, and degenerates into pot-fishing, or, what is worse, 
useless and unjustifiable slaughter; much in the same way 
that, when an unprincipled merchant, during the civil war, 
took unfair advantage of certain circumstances, and sold 
goods at an advance of five hundred per cent., and who, 
when afterward boasting of the fine per centage of profit 
realized, was told by a plain-spoken old gentleman that 
the transaction passed the limits of per centage and entered 
the bounds of petit larceny. 

But as an honest confession is good for the soul, I will 
relate the incident referred to : I was fishing in Okauchee 
Lake, Wisconsin, in company with two friends from Cin- 
cinnati, on a really perfect day in July. We had, unfor- 
tunately, a bountiful supply of fine minnows for bait, and 
after we had taken more than enough fish, I proposed to 
stoj); but my friends, to whom the experience was new, 
could not be induced to relinquish the exciting sport, so I 
continued fishing, under protest, and we took during the 
day one hundred and fifty-three bass, and, with shame do 
I confess it, more than one-half — I am afraid to say just 
how many more — fell to my rod. 

In justice, however, but not as a redeeming feature, I 
will state tliat the fish were not wasted, for a hundred fine 
bass were packed in ice and expressed to friends in Cin- 
cinnati, and the balance were distributed among the hotels 
of Oconomowoc. 

I always look back upon this circumstance with regret, 
though I have done penance for the transaction, many a 
time and oft, since, by stopping at a dozen bass, when I 
might have taken twice the number. 



CO^'DITIOXS WHICH GoVERN BlTI^G OF FiSH. 333 

Some anglers tell us that fish will not bite before a rain; 
others say they will not take a bait during a rain ; and still 
others affirm that it is useless to fish after a rain. Xow, 
while there is a grain of truth in each oL these opinions, 
yet if we blindly accept all of them and endeavor to follow 
them, we shall have no further use for our fishing-tackle. 

I do not think that rain, per se, has any influence what- 
ever upon the feeding of fish. It is, of course, impossible 
for us to judge in this matter by a comparison with terres- 
trial creatures; but, fishes being inhabitants of the watery 
element, it is not reasonable to suppose that a rain makes 
any difl'erence with them at all, at the time, though they 
profit or not by the subsequent rising and roiling of the 
warter. 

The multitudes of insects which are said to be beaten 
down from the overhanging trees and from the air into 
the water, during a shower of rain, must be taken cum 
grano salis; for insects, like most other mundane creatures, 
know enough to " come in out of the wet.^' We really 
find no more insects floating on the water during a rain, 
than at other times, though it is true that many are col- 
lected and swept by rains from the surface of the ground, 
and washed into the streams by swollen brooks and 
branches; but with the insects, go, also, the washings, 
debris, and particles of soil to discolor and thicken the 
streams, so that the fish may really fast in the midst of 
plenty, not being able to see the sudden influx of food by 
reason of the turbidity of the water ; and, again, it is doubt- 
ful if fish feed much on dead insects. 

The fish, however, on the other hand, are enabled to 
extend their range in foraging for food, during freshets, 
when the water has cleared sufficiently to allow them to 
discover it. 



334 Book of the Black Bass. 

I have noticed that fish usualh' bite better just before a 
shower ; especially if the weather be murky and warm, and 
I think this can be accounted for in this way: It is gen- 
erally quite ca^m, for a longer or shorter time previous to 
a summer shower, and the water being still, the fish do 
not bite, as they see the angler too distinctly — and this 
is why some have said that it is not a good time to fish 
hefore a rain — but immediately preceding the shower, a 
brisk breeze usually springs up, rippling the water, and it 
is at this time that fish seem to become possessed with a 
sudden impulse to feed, not on account of the impending 
rain, however, as many suppose, but because the angler is 
hid from view by the ruffling of the water. Sometimes this 
breeze accompanies the rain, and at other times follows the 
rain, and in either case the fish will bite best while the 
breeze continues. When a shower is followed by a calm, 
fish, of course, will not bite, in clear water, and as this 
often happens, it follows that some anglers hold to the 
opinion that they never bite afto' a rain. 

I have tried to impress the reader, all through this chap- 
ter, with the importance of keeping out of sight of the 
fish as much as possible, for therein lies the greatest secret 
of success in angling; and fish will be found to bite better, 
always, when conditions are such as to favor the screening 
of the angler from their ever-watchful eyes, and, when, at 
the same time, the water is sufficiently clear to enable 
them to discern the bait on or beneath the surface. 

In fl3^-fishing, especially, must this caution be exercised 
to its fullest extent, for the casts being necessarily mvich 
shorter than in bait-fishing, the angler is more liable to be 
seen; and herein lies the foundation of the opinion, enter- 
tained by many, that black bass are more uncertain to rise 
to the fly than the brook trout. I hold that black bass, 



Conditions which Govekn Biting of Fish. 335 

during the proper season, will rise as readily to the fly, 
under the same conditions, as the trout. 

But the fact is, that while the bass is as wary as the 
trout, he is not so timid. The trout darts away at the 
first glimpse of the angler, while the bass will hold his 
ground, though ready to depart unceremoniously when 
occasion calls, eyeing the angler meanwhile, and entirely 
ignoring his best skill, though he cast his feathery lures 
never so lightly and naturally. The bass is too knowing 
to be taken in by any such deception so long as he sees the 
angler at the other end of the rod; hence, more caution is 
really necessary in fly-fishing for black bass than for the 
brook trout. 

In regard to the best time of day for angling, there is 
not much choice, and it is governed a good deal by the 
season of the year, the temperature of the water, and by 
the character of the day itself, though, as a rule, fish are 
sluggish and off their feed during the middle of the day, 
with a bright and warm sun, say from noon until three 
o'clock, except early and late in the season, when the water 
is still cold, when the middle of the day is often the best 
time. 

For bait-fishing, on small streams, the early morning 
hours, about sunrise, are often the best; though on large 
streams and lakes there is nothing gained by early fishing, 
as the fish do not bite well until the sun is several hours 
high. 

The latter part of the afternoon, until sundown, is often 
the best part of the day for the angler. On cloudy days, 
however, the middle of the day is often the most favorable, 
especially if the weather is rather cool. 

For fly-fishing, the ^-^^ly morning hours succeeding sun- 
rise, and from an hour or two before sunset until dark, or 



336 Book of the Black Bass. 

with a nearly full moon^ even later, will be found the best 
hours for filling the creel. 

Of course, all of these times must be governed by con- 
ditions of the wind, weather, and water, whether favorable 
or not; for no matter what the hour of the day, it will be 
the most successful, when other conditions are most favor- 
able, and approach more nearly to the "typical" day for 
angling, as described in this chapter, the most prominent 
features of which are pleasant weather, translucent water, 
{ind a fresh breeze. 

Thunder, and electrical conditions of the atmosphere, I 
leave out of the account altogether, as we have no means 
of judging of the influence of so subtile an agent as elec- 
tricity on the finny tribe; nor have I ever observed any 
peculiar effect on fishes from these causes, though great 
stress is often laid by some anglers on the influence of an 
atmosphere surcharged with electricity, whatever that may 
meau ; but it is no more reasonable to suppose that fishes 
would be disturbed by electrical conditions of the air, than 
terrestrial animals would be inconvenienced or otherwise by 
electric conditions of water. 

But, notwithstanding all of our patient and careful ob- 
servations of the habits of fish, their food and their sur- 
roundings, and our study of the various conditions of 
wind, weather, and water, there will be days and days in 
the experience of every angler, when the fish will utterly 
refuse to bite ; and this on such days as the most finished, 
practiced, and observant angler Avould pronounce exceed- 
ingly favorable in every particular. At such times one is 
forcibly reminded of the analogy existing between the will 
of woman and the *' biting " of fish, as related in the 
familiar lines : 

"For if she will, she will, you may depend on't: 
And if she won't, she won't ; so therei's an end on't." 



CoNrnxioxs WHICH GovERx Biting of Fish. 337 

Every black bass angler has seen — where the water was 
clear enough for observation — the bass seize his minnow 
through seemingly mere caprice, and, instead of attempting 
to gorge it, would take it gingerly by the tail, toy with it, 
and finally eject it, or spit it out, as it were ; and this would 
be repeated several times in succession, or until the an- 
gler's patience became exhausted, when, while un jointing 
his rod, he would muse upon the waywardness of fish in 
general, and would be convinced that Solomon never went 
a-fishing, or he would have added another item to the 
four things too wonderful for his ken, or at least have sub- 
stituted " the way of a fish with a bait,'' for the less puz- 
zling proposition of *^ the way of a man with a maid." 
22 



338 Book of the Black Bass. 

CHAPTER XX. 

THE BLACK BASS AS A GAME FISH. 

" He is a fish that lurks close all winter ; but is very pleasant 
and jolly after mid-April, and in May, and in the hot months.'" — 
IzAAK Walton. 

Those who have tasted the lotus of salmon, or trout 
fishing, in that Utopian clime of far away — while reveling 
in its fpsthetic atmosphere, and surrounded hy a misty halo 
of spra}^ from the waterfall, or enveloped by the filmy 
gauze and iridescent haze of the cascade — have inscribed 
tomes, sang idyls, chanted paeans, and poured out libations 
in honor and praise of the silver-spangled salmon, or the 
rul)y-studded trout, while it is left to the vulgar horde of 
black bass anglers to stand u])on the mountain of their 
own doubt and presumption, and, with uplifted hands, 
in admiration and awe, gaze with dazed eyes from afar 
upon that forbidden land — that terra incognita — and 
then, having lived in vain, die and leave no sign. 

It is, then, witli a spirit of rank heresy in my heart; 
with smoked glass spectacles on my nose, to dim the glare 
and glamour of the transcendent shore; with the scales of 
justice across my shoulder — ]\f. salmoides in one scoop 
and M. dolomieu in the other — I pass the barriers and 
confines of the enchanted land, and toss them into a stream 
that has been depopulated of even fingerlings, by the diJet- 
ianti of salmon and trout fishers; for I would not, even 
here, put black bass in a stream inhabited by salmon or 
brook trout. 

While watching the plebeian interlopers sporting in an 



The Black Bass as a Game Fish. 339 

eddy, their bristling spines and emerald sides gleaming in 
the sunshine, I hear an awful voice from the adjacent 
rocks exclaiming : " Fools rush in where angels fear to 
tread ! '' Shade of Izaak Waltqn defend us ! While ap- 
pealing to Father Izaak for protection, I quote his words : 
'•' Of Avhich, if thou be a severe, sour complexioned man, 
then I here disallow thee to be a competent judge." 

Serioush', most of our notions of game-fish and fishing 
are derived from British writers; and as the salmon, the 
trout and the grayling are the only fishes in Great Britain 
worthy of being called game, they, of course, form the 
themes of British writers on game-fish. Americans, fol- 
lowing the lead of our British cousins in this, as we were 
wont to do in all sporting matters, have eulogized the 
salmon and brook trout as the game-fishes par excellence 
of America, ignoring others equally worthy. 

WTiile some claim for the striped bass a high place in 
the list of game-fish, I feel free to assert, that, Avere the 
black bass a native of Great Britain, he would rank fully 
as high in the estimation of British anglers as either the 
trout or the salmon. I am borne out in this by the opinions 
of British sportsmen whose statements have been received 
without question. 

W. H. Herbert (Frank Forester) writing of the black 
bass, sa}^? : 

" This is one of the finest of the American fresh-water fishes ; 
it is surpassed by none in boldness of biting, in fierce and violent 
resistance when hooked, and by a very few only in excelleneo 
upon the board." 

Parker Gilmore ("Ubique") says: 

" I fear it will be almost deemed heresy to place this fish 
(black bass) on a par with the trout; at least, some such idea 
I had when I first heard the two compared; but I am bold, and 



340 Book op the Black Bass. 

will go further. I consider he is the superior of the two, for he 
is equally good as an aiijcle of food, and much stronger, and 
untiring in his efforts to escape when hooked." 

'Now, while salmon fishing is, nnquestionabl}^ the high- 
est branch of piscatorial sport; and while tront fishing in 
Canada, Maine, and the Lake Superior region justifies all 
the extravagant praise bestowed upon it, I am inclined to 
doubt the judgment and good taste of those anglers who 
snap their fingers in contempt of black bass fishing, while 
they will wade a stream strewn with brush and logs, catch 
a few trout weighing six or eight to the pound, and call 
it the only artistic angling in the world ! While they are 
certainly welcome to their opinion, I think their zeal is 
worthy of a better cause. 

The black bass is eminently an American fish, and has 
been said to be representative in his characteristics. He 
has the faculty of asserting himself and making himself 
comjDletely at home wherever placed. He is plucky, game, 
brave and unyielding to the last when hooked. He has 
the arrowy rush and vigor of the trout, the untiring 
strength aud bold leap of the salmon, while he has a sys- 
tem of fighting tactics peculiarly his own. 

He will rise to the artificial fly as readily as the salmon 
or the brook trout, under the same conditions; and will 
take the live minnow, or other live bait, under any and 
all circumstances favorable to the taking of any other fish. 
T consider him, inch for inch and pound for pound, the 
gamest fish that swims. The royal salmon and the lordly 
trout must yield the palm to a black bass of equal tveight. 

That he will eventually become the leading game-fish 
of America is my oft-expressed opinion and firm belief. 
This result, I think, is inevitable; if for no other reasons, 
from a force of circumstances occasioned by climatic con- 



The Black Bass as a Game Fish. 341 

ditions and the operation of immutable natural laws, sucli 
as the gradual drying up, and dwindling away of the small 
trout streams, and the consequent decrease in brook trout, 
both in quality and quantity; and by the introduction of 
predatory fish in waters where the trout still exists. 

Another prominent cause of the decline and fall of the 
brook trout, is the erection of dams, saw-mills and fac- 
tories upon trout streams, which, though to be deplored, 
can not be prevented ; the march of empire and the progress 
of civilization can not be stayed by the honest, though 
powerless, protests of anglers. 

But, Avhile the ultimate fate of the brook trout is sealed 
bej^ond peradventure, in open, public waters, we have the 
satisfaction of knowing that in the black bass we have a fish 
equally worthy, both as to game and edi])le qualities, and 
which at the same time is able to withstand, and defy, 
many of the causes that will, in the end, effect the annihila- 
tion and extinction of the brook trout. 

As to a comparison of game qualities as between the 
small-mouth bass and the large-mouth bass, I hold that, 
other things being equal, and where the two species inhabit 
ihe samx9 waters, there is no difference in game qualities; 
for, while the small-mouth is probably more active in its 
movements, the large mouth bass is more powerful ; and 
no angler can tell from its manner of resistance whether 
he is fast to one or the other. 

But what are the game qualities of a fish ? As I under- 
stand it, they are: its aptitude to rise to the artificial fly, 
its readiness to take a natural bait, its exhibition of strength 
and cunning, persistence and activity, in its efforts to break 
away after being hooked, and its excellence as a food-fish. 

Both species of black bass rise equally well to the arti- 
ficial fly ; though, if there be any difference in this respect. 



342 Book of the Black Bass. 

I think the large-mouth bass has the advantage. In a 
letter from Count Von dem Borne, of Germany (who was 
very successful in introducing and propagating the black 
bass in that country), he wrote me that the large-mouth 
black bass rose better to the artificial fly than the small- 
mouth bass. My own experience rather favors this view, 
and it has likewise been brought to my notice by anglers 
in various parts of the country. 

The current but erroneous opinion that the small-mouth 
bass exceeds the large-mouth bass in game qualities, has 
been very widespread, and has been much enhanced by the 
indorsement of several of our best ichthyologists, who un- 
fortunately, however, are not, and do not pretend to be, 
anglers, but who imbibed this opinion second-hand from 
prejudiced anglers who ought to have known better. But 
as the black bass is becoming better known, and fly-fishing 
for the species is being more commonly practiced, this im- 
fair and unmerited comparison is fast dying out. 

Fish inha1)iting swiftly-running streams are always more 
vigorous and gamy than those in still waters, and it is 
probable that where the large-mouth bass exists alone in 
very shallow and sluggish waters, of high temperature and 
thickly grown with algae; it will exhibit less combative 
qualities, consequent on the enervating influences of its 
environment; but where both species inhabit the same 
waters, and are subject to the same conditions, I am con- 
vinced that no angler can tell whether he has hooked a 
large-mouth or a small-mouth bass, from their resistance 
and mode of fighting, provided they are of equal weight, 
until he has the ocular evidence. 

I use the expression "equal weight " advisedly, for most 
anglers must have remarked that the largest bass of either 
species are not necessarily the hardest fighters; on the 



The Black Bass as a Game Fish. 343 

Lontrar}^, a bass of two or two and a half pounds weight 
will usually make a more gallant fight than one of twice 
the size^ and this fact, T tliink, will account in a great 
measure for the . popular idea that the small-mouth bass 
is the "gamcst'' species for this reason: 

Where the two species co-exist in the same stream or 
lake, the large-mouth bass always grows to a larger size 
than the other species, and an angler having just landed a 
two pound small-mouth bass after a long struggle, next 
hooks a large-mouth bass weighing four or five pounds, 
and is surprised, probal)ly, that it " fights " no harder or 
perhaps not so hard as the smaller fish — in fact, seems 
"logy;" he, therefore, reiterates the cry that the small- 
mouth bass is the gamest fish. 

But, now, if he next succeeds in hooking a large- 
mouth bass of the same size as the first one caught, he is 
certain that he is playing a small-mouth bass until it is 
landed, when to his astonishment it proves to be a large- 
2nouth bass ; he merely says, " he fought well for one of 
his kind," still basing his opinion of the fighting qualities 
of the two species upon the first two caught. 

Perhaps his next catch may be a small-mouth bass of 
four pounds, and which, though twice the weight of the 
large-mouth bass just landed, does not offer any greater 
resistance, and he sets it down in his mind as a large- 
mouth bass; imagine the angler's surprise, then, upon 
taking it into the landing net, to find it a small-mouth 
bass, and one which, from its large size and the angler's 
IDreconceivcd opinion of this species should have fought 
like a Trojan. 

N'ow, one would think that the angler would be some- 
Avhat staagered in his former belief; but no, he is equal to 
the occasion, and in compliance with the popular idea, he 



344 Book of the Black Bass. 

merely suggests that " it was out of condition^ somehow/' 
or '' was hooked so as to drown it early in the struggle ; " 
and so, as his largest fish will necessarily be big-mouth 
bass, and because they do not fight in proportion to their 
size, they are set down as lacking in game qualities — of 
course, leaving the largest small-mouth bass out of the 
calculation. 

Gentle reader, this is not a case of special pleading, nor 
is the angler a creation of the imagination lugged in as an 
apologist for the large-mouth bass; he is a veritable 
creature of flesh and blood, of earth earthy, and with the 
fcelf-conceit, weaknesses and shortcomings characteristic of 
the genus homo. I have met him and heard his arguments 
and sage expressions scores of times, and if the reader will 
reflect a moment I am sure he will recognize him. 

Many years ago I was at Gogebic Lake, Wisconsin, where, 
among a number of prominent anglers, were Dr. E., and 
Dr. T., both of New York City. Dr. F. had a very 
extensive angling experience in all parts of the country, 
and Dr. T. was well known as a participant in the fly- and 
bait-casting contests in the tournaments of the Xational 
Eod and Reel Association of that day. 

Dr. F. was a firm believer in the superior game qualities 
of the small-mouth bass, and declared that he could in- 
variably tell what species of black bass he had hooked, 
from its manner of " fighting.'' Dr. T. was confident he 
could not do so. The matter was finally put to a practical 
test, when Dr. F. was forced to acknowledge himself van- 
quished, and that he nor any other angler could make the 
distinction, for one fish was as ^* gamy " as the other. I 
might add that this result will be obtained wherever the 
two species exist in the same waters. 



The Black Bass as a Game Fish. 345 

Mr. S. C. Clarke, a veteran angler of sixty years' experi- 
ence, and whose opinion is entitled to great weight, says: 

" I will say that, from an acquaintance with both species for 
more* than forty years, from Minnesota to Florida, I have found 
little or no difference between them. I have taken them with 
fly, spoon, and bait, as many as fifty in a day (in early times), 
and up to six and a half pounds weight." 

A few years before his death, Fred Mather wrote as 
follows : 

"A bad name, given to the big-mouth when black bass first 
began to attract the attention of anglers, has stuck. It may 
interest a younger generation of anglers to know that forty 
years ago these gamy fishes were hardly known to anglers, and 
as soon as they began to attract attention some persons, to 
show their exquisite discrimination, began to praise one to the 
detriment of the other. Dr. Henshall and I have liad the courage 
to fight this, and to say thai in game qualities there" is little 
difference, and that what there is depends on the weight of the 
fish, two pounds being its fighting weight. Further than to say 
that the big-mouth is not so capricious about taking the fly as 
his brother — /. e., will usually take it more freely — I have not 
room to go into this subject here. I have written all this be- 
fore and intend to keep at it until justice is done to a noble game- 
fish." 

Mr. Henry Talbott, an angler of wide experience, and 
who has written so entertainingly and instructively on 
black bass angling in the Potomac, says : 

" There are some anglers who consider there is but one black 
bass, the small-mouth, and that the other is useless for food, 
lacking in gamy qualities and only fished for by the misguided. 
In this they are mistaken, and it is a theory they will abandon 
and resent when their experience is wider. 

" It is possible that in the Florida lakes they may be tame 
sport, and there seems to be a general agreement that in some 



346 Book of the Black Bass. 

of the swamps of Ohio the big-mouth is an inferior fish, but 
there is yet to be found his superior where he has a fair chance. 
" Taking the two fish at their best, there is no man living can 
tell the difference in their taking the fly, in their fight to the 
boat, or on the platter, by any other sign than that one has a 
more capacious smile than the other; and by the same token 
he is just a little the better jumper and will leave! the water 
oftener after being hooked, and is as long in coming to the net 
as his cousin." 

Owing to my admiration for the black bass as a game- 
fish, and my championship of its cause for many years, and 
my efforts to place it in the front rank of game-hshes, and 
my desire to have it placed in new waters, I am sometimes, 
thoughtlessly and unjustly, accused of being opi)osed to the 
brook trout, and of advising the stocking of trout streams 
with my " favorite " fish. Nothing can be further from 
the truth. 

I am utterly opposed to the introduction of black l)ass 
into waters in which there is the remotest chance for the 
brook trout or rainbow trout to thrive. I yield to no one 
in love and admiration for the brook trout. I was perfectly 
familiar with it before I ever saw a ])lack bass; but T 
am not so blinded by prejudice but that I can share that 
love with the black bass, which for several reasons is des- 
tined to become the favorite game-fish of America. "My 
offending hath this extent, no more." 

Let us look this thing squarely in the face. I do not 
wish to disturb any one's preference, but I do want to dis- 
abuse the minds of anglers of all prejudice in the matter. 
The brook trout must go. It has already gone from many 
streams, and is fast disappearing from others. It is sad to 
contemplate the extinction of the " angler's pride " in pub- 
lic waters, but the stern fact remains that in this utilitarian 
age its days are numbered and its fate irrevocably sealed. 



The Black Bass as a Game Fish. 347 

As the red man disappears before the tread of the white 
man, the " living arrow " of the mountain streams goes 
with him. 

The trout is essentially a creature of the pine forests. 
Its natural home is in waters shaded by pine, balsam, 
spruce and hemlock, where the cold mountain brooks retain 
their low temperature, and the air is redolent with balsamic 
fragrance ; where the natural food of the trout is produced 
in the greatest abundance, and where its breeding grounds 
are undisturbed. 

But the iron has entered its soul. As the buffalo disap- 
pears liefore the iron horse, the brook trout vanishes before 
the axe of the lumberman. As the giants of the forest ai'e 
laid low, and the rank and file decimated, and the wooden 
walls of the streams battered down, the hot, fiery sun leaps 
through the breaches, disclosing the most secret recesses of 
forest and stream to the bright glare of mid-day. Tha 
moisture of the earth is dissipated, the mosses and ferns 
l)ecome shriveled and dry, the wintergreen and partridge- 
berry, the ground pine and trailing arbutus struggle feebly 
for existence ; the waters decrease in size and increase in 
temperature, the conditions of the food supply and of the 
breeding grounds of the brook trout are changed ; it dete- 
riorates in size and numbers and vitality, until finally, in 
accordance with the immutable laws of nature and the great 
principle of the " survival of the fittest ^' (not the fittest 
from the angler's point of view, but the fittest to survive 
the changes and mutations consequent on the march of 
civilization), it disappears altogether. 

Much has been said about the " trout hog " in connec- 
tion with the decrease of the trout. But while he deserves 
all the odium and contempt heaped upon him by the honest 
angler, the result would be the same were the trout allowed 



348 Book of the Black Bass. 

undisturbed and peaceable possession of the streams, so far 
as the fish-hook is concerned, while the axe of the lumber- 
man continues to ring its death knell. 

Let us, then, cherish and foster and protect the crimson- 
spotted favorite of our 3^outhful days as long as possible in 
public waters, and introduce the rainbow trout, the Dolly 
Varden, the steelhead, the red-throat trout or the English 
brown trout, when he has disappeared ; and when all these 
succumb, then, and not till then, introduce the l)lack bass. 
But let us give these cousins of the brook trout a fair trial 
first, and without prejudice. There are plenty of lakes, 
ponds and large streams in the eastern states into which 
the black bass can be introduced without interfering with 
trout waters. 

For many years to come brook trout will be artificially 
cultivated, and the supply thus kept up in preserved waters 
by wealthy angling clubs ; but by the alteration of the na- 
tural conditions of their existence they will gradually de- 
crease in size and quality, until finally they will either cease 
to be or degenerajte to such a degree as to forfeit even this 
praiseworthy protection. 

I must dissent from the statement sometimes made that 
the black bass is the bluefish of fresh waters. The black 
bass is voracious — so are all game-fishes — but not more so 
than the brook trout. The character of a fish's teeth de- 
termines the nature of its food and the manner of its feed- 
ing. The bluefish has the most formidable array of teetli 
of any fish of its size — compressed, lancet-shajoed, covered 
with enamel, and exceedingly strong and sharp, in fact, 
miniature shark teeth — while the black bass has soft, 
small, brush-like teeth, incapable of wounding, and in- 
tended only for holding its prey, which is swallowed whole. 
The brook trout has longer, stronger and sharper teeth than 



The Black Bass as a Game Fish. 349 

the bass^ and a large, long month, capable of swallowing a 
bigger fish than a black bass of equal weight. The mouth 
of the bass is very wide, for the purpose of taking in craw- 
fish with their long and aggressive claws, and not, as sup- 
posed by some, for the swallowing of large fishes. The 
black bass gets the best of other game-fishes, not by devour- 
ing the fishes themselves, but by devouring their food. For 
this reason, more than any other, they should not be intro- 
duced into the same waters with brook trout. The pike or 
pickerel is the bluefish of fresh waters, and in dental ca- 
pacity and destructive possibilities is not far behind it. 

The brook trout, I think, is the most beautiful of all 
fishes, as a fresh-run salmon is the handsomest and most 
perfect in form. The salmon is a king, the brook trout a 
courtier, but the black bass, in his virescent cuirass and 
spiny crest, is a doughty warrior whose prowess none can 
gainsay. 

I have fished for brook trout in the wilds of Canada, 
where a dozen would rise at every cast of the fly, and it 
would be a scramble as to which should get it — great lusty 
trout, from a half pound to two pounds in weight — but the 
Ijlack fly made life a burden by day, and the mosquito by 
night. The glory and beauty of the madly rushing stream 
breaking wildly over the great black rocks, and the quiet, 
glassy pools below reflecting the green spires of spruce and 
fir, availed nothing to the swollen eyelids and smarting 
brow. 

I have cast from early morn till dewy eve, on a good sal- 
mon stream in New Brunswick, for three days in succession 
without a single rise. I have cast standing in a birch-bark 
canoe until both arms and legs were weary with the strain, 
and then rested by casting while sitting — but all in vain. 
The swift-flowing, crystal stream reflected back the fierce 



350 Book of the Black Bass. 

glare of the northern sun, and flowed on in silence toward 
the sea. The fir-clad hills rose boldly on either side, and 
stood in silent, solemn grandeur — for neither note of bird 
nor hum of bee disturbed the painful silence of the Cana- 
dian woods. 

At such times would flash on memory's mirror many a 
fair scene of limpid lake or rushing river, shadowed by 
cool, umbrageous trees, and vocal with myriads of voices — 
where the black bass rose responsive to the swish of the 
rod and dropping of the fly. Or, should the bass be coy 
and sh}^, or loth to leave his lair beneath some root or shelv- 
ing rock — tlie melody of the birds, the tinkle of a cow-bell, 
the chirp of a cricket, the scudding of a squirrel, filled up 
the void and made full compensation. 

The true angler can find real pleasure in catching little 
sunfish, or silversides, if the stream and birds, and bees 
and butterflies do their part by him; while the killing of 
large or many fish, even salmon or trout, in silence and 
solitude, may fail to fully satisfy him. 

I can find something beautiful or interesting in every fish 
that swims. I have an abiding affection for every one, from 
the lowly, naked bull-head, the humble scavenger of the 
waters, to the silver-spangled king who will not deign to 
soil his dainty lips with food during his sojourn in crystal 
streams, and I love the brook trout best of all. But, as an 
angler, I can find more true enjoyment, more blessed peace, 
in wading some rushing, rocky stream, flecked Ijy tlie shad- 
ows of overhanging elm and sycamore, while tossing the 
silken gage to the knight in Lincoln-green, my ears con- 
scious of the rippling laughter of the merry stream, the 
joyous matin of the woodland thrush, the purring under- 
tone of the quivering leaves — my eyes catching glimpses 
of hill and meadow, wren and robin, bee and bittern, fern 



The Black Bass as a Game Fish. 351 

and flower, and my breath inhaling the sweet fragrance of 
ii])land clover and elder-blossom — I say I can find more 
true enjoyment in this — than paying court to the lordly 
salmon, or the lovely trout, in its stiff and silent demesne, 
with anointed face, gloved hands, and head swathed in 
gauze. If this be treason, my brother, make the most of it. 
I am content. It is my honest conviction. After killing 
every species of game-fish east of the Eocky Mountains, 
from Canada to Florida, and some in foreign lands, I find 
the knightly bass and his tourney-field all sufficient. 

THE CAPTURE OF THE BASS. 

My brother of the angle, go with me 
This perfect morning in the leafy June, 
To yonder pool below the rapid's foot. 
Approach with caution ; let your tread be soft ; 
Beware the bending bushes on the brink. 
Disturb no branch, nor twig, nor leaf, my friend. 
The finny tribe is wary. 

Rest we here. 

Be'hold the lovely scene! The rippling stream, 

Now dancing, sparkling, in the morning sun ; 
' The blue-eyed violet nodding at your feet; 
The red-bird, all ablaze, with swelling throat. 

Chants loud his song in yonder thick-set thorn. 

The dreamy, droning hum of insect wings 

Is mingled ever with the rustling leaves. 
Sleek, weel-fed cattle there contented stand, 

On gravelly shoal beneath the spreading beech. 

Across the" narrow stream a sj^camore, 

A weather-beaten giant, old and gray, 
With scarr'd arms stretching o'er the silent pool, 

With gnarl'd and twisted roots bathed in the flood 

For, lo. these hundred vears. 



352 Book of the Black Bass. 

Beneath those roots 
With watchful eye — proud monarch of the pool — 
A cunning bass doth lie, on balanced fin, 
In Avaiting for his prey. 

And now with rod. 
With faithful reel, and taper'd line of silk. 
With mist -like leader and two fairy flies — 
Dark, bushy hackles, both — I make a east. 
With lengthen'd line I quickly cast again. 
And just beneath the tree the twin-like lures 
As gently drop as falling autumn leaves; 
And half-submerged, like* things of life they seem, 
Eesponsive to the rod and line. 

But look! 
Saw you that gleam beneath the flood ? A flash — 
A shadow — then a swirl upon the pool ? 
My hand, responsive to the? sudden thrill. 
Strikes in the steel — the wary bass is hooked ! 
And now with lightning speed he darts away 
To reach his lair — his refuge 'neath the root's. 
The singing reel proclaims him almost there — 
I " give the butt " — the ever-faithful rod 
In horse-shoe curve now cliecks his headlong flight. 
Right lustily he tugs and pulls. Egad! 
But still the barb is fast. 

The hissing line — 
The rod now bending like a slender reed 
Resists the tight'ning strain. He turns his course? • 
In curving reaches, back and forth, he darts. 
Describing arcs and segments in the pool. 
Ha! nobly done! as with a mighty rush 
He cleaves the crystal stream, and at one bound. 
Full half a fathom in the realm above 
He nimbly takes an atmospheric flight — 
His fins extended, stiff with bristling points — 
His armor brightly flashing in the sun — 



The Black Bass as a Game Fish. 353 

His wide-extended jaws he shakes in rage 
To rid him of the hook. 

And now I lower 
The pliant rod in court's}^ to the brave. 
The line relieved, somewhat, of steady strain, 
Outwits the wily bass — the hook holds fast! 
Now back again he falls with angry splash 
To seek the aid of snag, or root of tree; 
For thus, my friend, he oft escapes, I trow. 
By fouling line or hook — 

He never sulks! 
Not he; while life remains, or strength holds good, 
His efTorts never cease. Now up the stream — 
Now down again — I have him well in hand. 
Now reeling in, or erstwhile giving line; 
He swims now fast or slow — now high or low. 
The steady strain is still maintained, you se'e! 
The good rod swaying like a wind-blown rush — 
He surges thro' the flood. 

Another leap ! 
Ye Gods! How like an angry beast he shakes 
His bristling mane, and dive's below again! 
And did you mark, my friend, his shrewd intent. 
As when he fell upon the slacken'd line? 
If then he'd found it stretched and taut, I ween. 
He would have made his safe and sure escape. 
But haply then the tip was slightly lowered — 
And so, with yielding line, the hook held fast. 
Now truly, friend, he makes a gallant fight! 
In air or water — all the same to him — 
His spiny crest erect; he struggles still. 
No sulking here! but like a mettl'd steed 
He champs the bit, and ever speeds the best 
With firm-held, tighten'd rein. 

He's off again! 
Now down the stream he flashes like a shaft 
From long-bow swiftly sped — his last bold spurt — 
23 



354 Book of the Black Bass. 

The effort cost him dear — his ^A orsted strength 
Is ebbing fast. And now in lessening curves 
Hei feebly swims, and labors with the tide. 
And as I reel tlie line he slowly yields, 
And now tvirns up his breast-plate, snowy white 
A vanquished, conquered knight. 

And now my friend 
The landing-net. With firm and cautious hand 
Beneath the surface hold it. Take him in. 
Now lift him out and gently lay him do\\m. 
How bright his tunic, bronze and glossy green! 
A fitting rival to the velvet sward. 
And sec the ragged rent the hook hath made! 
You marvel how it held him safe and fast! 
'Twas by tlie equal and continual strain 
Of supple rod and ever-faithful reel. 
'Twas Avork well done. 

Oh, valiant, noble bass! 
Fit dweller of the merry, brawling stream. 
Thy once-love'd pool l^eneath thy giant tree, 
Thy fancied stronghold 'neath its tangled roots. 
Shall know thee never more. Thy race is run! 

Now in thy creel, 
My doubting friend, we'll gently lay him down 
Upon a bed of cool and graceful ferns. 
Yet sparkling with the early morning dew — 
A warrior in repose! 



Copvrlsht, iSS-,. bv The Cestvkv Co. 




LANDING A DOUBLE CATCH. 



Fly-Fishing. 357 

CHAPTER XXI. 

FLY-FISHING. 

"And now, scholar, my direction for fly-fishing is ended with 
this shower, for it has done raining." — Izaak Walton. 

Artificial fly-fishing is the most legitimate, scientific 
and gentlemanly mode of angling, and is to be greatly 
preferred to all other ways and means of capturing the 
finny tribe. It requires more address, more skill, and a 
better knowledge of the habits of the fish and his sur- 
roundings than any other method. 

Fly-fishing holds the same relation to bait-fishing that 
poetry does to prose; and, while each method will ever 
have its enthusiastic admirers, only he who can skillfully 
handle the comely fly-rod, and deftly cast the delicate fly, 
can truly and fully enjoy the aesthetics of the gentle art. 
As the lover naturally " drops into poetry " to express the 
ardent feelings of his soul, "with a woful ballad made 
to his mistress' eyebrow," so the real lover of nature and 
the finny tribe as naturally takes to fly-fishing, and finds 
liquid poems in gurgling streams, and pastoral idyls in 
leafy w^oods. 

A friend in Texas, to whom I sent a bass-fly and who 
had never seen an artificial fly before, enthusiastically de- 
clared it to be " a fish-hook poetized," and thought that a 
'' black bass should take it through a love of the beautiful, 
if nothing else." Xot only the fly, but every implement 
of the fly-fisher's outfit is a materialized poem. 

Fl3-fishers are usually brain-workers in society. From 
time immemorial the fraternity has embraced many of the 



358 Book of the Black Bass. 

most honored, intellectual and cultured members of the 
liberal professions and arts. Along the banks of purling 
streams, beneath the shadows of umbrageous trees, or in 
the secluded nooks of charming lakes, they have ever been 
found, drinking deep of the invigorating forces of nature, 
giving rest and tone to overtaxed brains and wearied nerves, 
while gracefully wielding the supple rod, the invisible 
leader, and the fairy-like fly. 

Oh ! how the sluggish pulses bound, the deadened nerves 
thrill, and the relaxed muscles quicken, responsive to the 
inspiration of the electric rise of the gamy denizens of the 
stream; and oh, how the buried forces of life are resur- 
rected, renewed and strengthened by the ho^DCS, and fears, 
and struggles, of the contest which follows! And when 
at last the brave beauty has been lovingly deposited in 
the creel, the restored angler feels that he has won a double 
victory; for, in the death of the fish, he sees renewed life 
for himself. 

But the true fl3'-fisher, who practices his art con amove, 
does not delight in big catches, nor revel in undue and 
cruel slaughter. He is ever satisfied with a moderate creel, 
and is content with the scientific and skillful capture of a 
few good fish. The beauties of nature, as revealed in his 
surroundings — the sparkling water, the shadow and sun- 
shine, the rustling leaves, the song of birds and hum of 
insects, the health-giving breeze — make up to him a meas- 
ure of true enjoyment, and peace, and thankfulness, that is 
totally unknown to the slaughterer of the innocents, whose 
sole ambition is to fill his creel and record his captures by 
scores, and who realizes naught in his surroundings but 
the hot sun, slippery rocks, baffling winds, and the annoy- 
.ance of overhanging trees and bushes. The time is com- 
ing when such an angler will receive, as well as merit, the 



Fly-Fishing. 35D 

scorn and contempt of all good and true disciples of the 
gentle art. 

The literature of black bass fishing may truly l)e said to 
have been evolved during the past thirty years. Previous to 
this i^eriod very little mention was made of the two species 
of black bass by our angling authors, and that little was 
misleading, incorrect or glaringly false in most instances, 
and related, almost without exception, to bait-fishing. 
Fly-fishing for black bass, although then practiced by a few 
anglers, was apparently unknown to writers on angling. In- 
deed, it was doubted by many, and denied by most anglers, 
that the black bass would rise to the artificial fly ; but this, 
in my opinion, was due niore to prejudice than to the result 
of actual experience, and viewed in the light of our present 
knowledge of the subject, this opinion is certainly strength- 
ened, if not confirmed. 

Up to that time the brook trout was deservedly the pride, 
and idol of the fly-fisher, and it was deemed heresy to cast 
the fly for any other fish, with the exception of the salmon. 
But while yielding to none in my love and admiration for 
the brook trout, I regard it as a matter of justice for me 
to state that, in my opinion (based on a large exj)erience), 
there are no waters inhabited by the black bass, large- or 
small-mouth, where it will not rise to the artificial fly at 
some season of the year, subject to certain states and con- 
ditions of the water, etc.. and this is much as can be said 
for the brook trout as all unprejudiced trout-fishers must 
admit. 

It is true that the black bass rises to the fly more freely 
and uniformly in some waters than in others, but this fact 
holds good also as to the l)rook trout. And likewise is it a 
truism, that the largest fish, trout or bass, do not, as a rule, 
take the artificial flv. Those who wish to lure the finny 



360 Book of the Black Bass. 

giants must perforce use bait or the trolling-spoon. This 
is a damaging admission to our piscatorial pride^ but can- 
dor compels us to acknowledge the correctness of it, though 
we may find some guilit}^ consolation or quasi-satisf action 
in exhibiting the huge piscine trophies to our admiring and 
credulous friends with the usual remark : " Caught on the 
fly!" 

Seriously, it is entirely unnecessary, at this late day, to 
argue that the black bass will or will not rise to the arti- 
ficial fly. The fact is now known to most anglers, and con- 
ceded by others, that the black bass is a game-fish of high 
degree, and when of equal weight is the peer of the brook 
trout or salmon in fighting qualities, when proper tackle is 
emplo3^ed, and will rise to the fly under the same favorable 
conditions. 

In order to be successful in fly-fishing for black bass, 
the angler must know the waters to l)e fished, or be pos- 
sessed of that knowledge of the haunts and habits of the 
bass that is l)orn only of much experience. He must know 
when and where the fish are to be found at the different 
seasons of the year; when they frequent deep, and when 
shallow water, for it is love's labor lost to cast the fiy on 
deep, still reaches of water. 

In stream fishing, which is by far more preferable and 
enjoyable than lake or pond fishing, it is only when the 
bass are on the shallows or on the riffles that the fly-fisher 
will fill his creel, and on lakes when they frequent reefs, 
shoals, bars, and the neighborhood of rushes and weed 
patches. These times are usually in the spring or early 
summer, and in autumn, for in midsummer the bass retire 
to deep water, except in large, deep and cool lakes, when 
this season is often the best, as the water has then become 



Fly-Fishixg. 361 

of the right temperature to induce the fish to seek shallow 
feeding grounds. 

The habits of the l)rook trout have been carefully studied 
by many generations of fly-fishers and naturalists, conse- 
quently the trout-fisher knows that during the summer 
months he will certainly find his quarry in the shallow 
streams, slowly but surely ascending toward their spawning- 
grounds. He also knows that the big trout has a local 
habitation under some root, or rock, or hollow 1)ank, which 
he holds by right of possession, and defends as bravely as 
ever knight of old his feudal stronghold. He knows, fur- 
thermore, that he would be considered daft to whip the 
deepest pools of running water, or the surface of deep 
portions of lakes or ponds. So, when the bass-fisher knows 
the habits of the bass as well, there will be less speculation 
as to whether or not he will rise to the fly. 

The stream should always be waded, if practicable, and 
fished with the current, for it follows that wherever the 
angler can wade, the water is about right in depth for fly- 
fishing. He should cast about him in a semi-circle, he 
being at the center and his casts being the radii, like the 
spokes of a wheel; then, lengthening his cast, he can de- 
scribe the arc of a larger circle, and so cover all the water 
within reach (within forty or fifty feet), giving preference, 
of course, to the likeliest spots, as the eddies of boulders 
or half-submerged rocks, near logs, driftwood, shoals, bars, 
and under overhanging bushes and hollow banks, and over 
the shallow pools above and below rapids and riffles. 

After casting, the flies should be gently moved on the 
surface by tremulous movements, to imitate, as nearly as 
may be, a living fly, and then be allowed to sink several 
inches below the surface and float away like a drowned 
insect to the extreme length of the line. 



362 Book of the Black Bass. 

On lakes, where there is no current, the flies should also 
be permitted to sink over likely spots at almost every cast. 
Lakes or deej) ponds should be fished from a boat, keeping 
in the deeper water and casting inshore on the bars, shoals, 
reefs or ledges, or along the edges of rushes or weed patches. 
Sometimes rushes or tall weeds grow in j^retty deep water, 
but nevertheless the bass will often be found near or 
among them, and sometimes near or under floating logs or 
drift ; it is well to try all such places. 

It will be found that bass rise to the fly more freely when 
the water is stirred or ruffled by a brisk l)rceze, and during 
the early morning hours and late in the evening; about sun- 
set, or a little after, being the very best time on bright 
days. On cloudy days there is not much choice, as one 
hour is no more favorable than another, sunny days being 
always the best. 

The old rule of light-colored flies for dark days and to- 
Avard evening, and dark flies for bright days, is a safe one 
to follow, the cxcej^tions rather tending to prove the rule, 
which usually hap})en when the fish are well on the feed 
and will take almost any fly offered; thus it is frequently 
the case that dark flies will kill in the dusk of evening as 
well as the " miller " or " coachman.'^ 

It only remains now to say to the reader, cast as skill- 
fully as 3'ou can, but always deliberately and carefully. 
Always keep a taut line; strike quickly upon sight or 
touch, and play and land your fish in your own way, but 
get him in the creel as quickly as 5^ou can with safety to 
your tackle; kill your fish outright before putting him in 
your basket ; do not fish for count ; keep your temper ; and, 
above all things, remember first, last and all the time the 
most important rule in fly-fishing — keep out of sight of 
the fish if you would have him notice your flies. 



Fly-Fishixg. 363 

Rigging the Cast. 

By a reference to the chapters devoted to the imple- 
ments of angling, the reader will obtain a full description 
of those used in fly-fishing, which are the fly-rod, the click 
reel, the tai^ered fly-line, the leader, the fly, the fly-book, 
the creel, the landing-net, and the useful adjuncts for 
stream fishing, of wading-pants or stockings; and, by re- 
ferring to the pages on knots, the following directions for 
rigging the cast will be rendered more intelligible : 

A few snelled Sproat or O'Shaughnessy hooks should be 
carried in the fl}'-book, to use with such natural barits as 
grasshoppers, beetles or dragon-flies, in case the artificial 
fly does not prove successful. They are to be used in the 
same manner as artificial flies. 

The beginner being now provided with all the tools, it 
is in order to put his rod together, attach reel, reel-line, 
and cast of flies, and proceed to business. In rigging the 
cast, if the leader is provided with loops at each end, and 
also loops for drop-flies, proceed as follows: To the small 
end of the leader attach the stretcher or tail-fly by passing 
the loop of the leader through the loop of the snell and 
over the fly, then draw together. Three feet from the tail- 
fly attach the dropper, or bob-fly, in the same manner; 
that is, put the loop of the snell over the loop of the leader, 
and push the fly through the latter loop and draw tight ; or, 
if the leader is not furnished with loops for this purpose, 
slip a knot of the leader (about three feet from the tail- 
fly) apart, and, after making a round knot in the end of 
the snell of the fly, put it through the opened knot of the 
leader and draw together; this will hold firm, and the 
dropper-fly will stand at right angles from the leader. 

Tf, however, the gut-lengths of the leader are tied by 
hard, close knots, instead of the slip-knot or double water- 



364 Book or the Black Bass. 

knot, then the sncll of the dropper must he attached close 
to and ahove a knot of the leader, hy a single knot or half- 
hitch, a round knot having previously heen made in the 
end of the snell. to prevent the half-hitch from working 
loose: this is prohahly as good and safe a way as any. 

The cast is now read}-, for I do not advise the use of 
more than two flies. If, however, the angler washes to 
employ three, the third fly, or second dropi^er, must be 
attached three feet above the first dropper, and, in this 
case, the leader should be nine feet long. But the begin- 
ner A\dll have all he can attend to with a six-feet leader 
and two flies. The leader having been j^reviously straight- 
ened by soaking in water, or rubbing with India-rubber 
(the former method is to be preferred), and attached to the 
reel-line, the angler is now armed and equipped as the law 
directs, and ready for 

Casting the Fly. 

Casting the artificial fly is performed by two i^rincipal 
motions, a backward and a forward one. The former is 
to throw the flies behind the angler, and tne latter is to 
project them forward and beyond. That is all there is 
in it. These are the main principles involved, and the 
first or backward motion is merely preparatory to the 
second or forward one, the latter being the most important. 

But the style and manner of making these two motions 
are all-important; for upon the correct, skillful, and, I 
might say, scientific performance of them, depends the 
success of the angler. The main objects of the two mo- 
tions are. first, to get the line and cast behind the angler 
in a straight line, without lapping or kinking; and, sec- 
ond, to project the line forward without snapping off the 
tail-fly, casting it perfectly straight, without confusion, and 



Fly-Fishixg. 365 

Ctiusing the flies to alight before the line, without a splash, 
and as lightly as the natural insect dropping into the water. 
This can only be done by the novice with a short line, 
about the length of his rod, and he should not attempt a 
longer cast until he is perfect in this. When he can lay 
out his short line perfectly straight before him without a 
splash, every time, he can then venture further. 

To be more explicit : the reel should be underneath, with 
the handle to the right. The rod is grasped just above the 
reel with the thumb extended. Keeping the arm close to 
the body, for the wrist and forearm must do the work, 
throw the line backward and upward over the right 
shoulder, and then straight forward, aiming at a point 
on the water distant about the length of the line. But 
little force or muscular effort should be used, as the spring 
of the rod will be sufhcient. This should be repeated a 
number of times in quick succession, in the meanwhile 
trying to ascertain exactly when the line is straight be- 
hind, before making the forward cast. At no time should 
the rod extend forward or backward at a greater angle 
than twenty or twenty-five degrees from the perpendicular, 
and even a lesser angle would be better. (See figures 1 
and 2.) This style of casting is the one practiced by most 
anglers with any length of line, in actual fishing. 

For very long casts, however, and in tournament work, 
a somewhat different style is used ; but it should be borne in 
mind that nearly every angler has a method of casting 
peculiarly his own. 

The backward and forward movements are each made 
in al:)out the same length of time, but while the former is 
a single movement, the latter is a double one; that is, it is 
divided into two motions, or parts; though these two for- 



36G 



Book of the Black Bass. 





Fly-Fishixg. 367 

ward motions are made in the same length of time as the 
backward movement^ and without intermission. 

I will now^ try to explain these movements more ex- 
plicits, with the aid of the annexed cuts and diagrams. 

The prospective fly-fisher having his rod, reel and cast 
in readiness, stands near the bank of the stream, with a 
clear space of thirty or. forty feet behind him. Having 
tlie line about the length of his rod, to begin with, he 
takes the hook of the tail-fly between his left thumb and 
forefinger and stretches the line taut; then, by waving 
the rod slightly backward over the left shoulder, and at 
the same time releasing his hold of the tail-fly, the line 
straightens out behind him, the right elbow meantime 
being held close to the body, as the backward movement 
is made w^ith the wrist and forearm entirely. The position 
of the right hand during this portion of the cast is with 
said liand grasping the rod just above the reel, and with 
the reel and palm of the hand toward the angler, the thumb 
looking toward his right shoulder (see figure 1). 

When the line and leader are on a straight line behind 
him, he brings the rod forward with a gradually increasing 
rate of speed, until the rod is slightly in advance of him, 
say at an angle of fifteen degrees off the perpendicular; 
then, for the first time, the right elbow leaves the body, 
and, at the same time, the rod is turned in the hand in the 
opposite direction (see figure 2) ; that is, with the back of 
the hand toward the angler, so that, at the end of the cast, 
the reel is below the rod, while the back of the hand is up- 
ward, and, without stopping the motion of the rod, the 
right arm is projected forward to its full extent, and on a 
line with the shoulder (see figure 3). This is the second 
part or motion of the forward movement, and consists in 
merely following the direction of the flies with the tip of 



oGS Book of the Black Bass. 

the rod, so as to ease their rapid flight, and allow them to 
descend withont confusion, and to settle npon the water 
noiselessly. 

Thns we see that the backward movement is in one time 
and one motion, and the forward movement in one time 
and two motions, as the militar}^ have it, or according to 
the following formula of time: 

1. ! = 2. (a) \(h) |. 

No. 1 represents the backward throw, in one motion, in 
the time of a half note. Xo. 2 represents the forward 
cast, in one time and two motions, a and h, in the time 
of two quarter notes. This is not to be understood as 
fishing by note, but the relative time of making the dif- 
ferent motions in casting the fly approaches very nearly 
that of the formula given. This is better explained by a 
reference to the foregoing cuts; where figure 1 repre- 
sents the backward throw, and figure 2 represents the 
first part or motion (a), and figure 3 the second part or 
motion (h), of the forward cast. 

Sometimes these movements are made straight back- 
ward and forward over either shoulder, or over the head; 
])ut tlie 1)est way is to make the 'backward movement over 
the left shoulder, and the forward over the right shoulder, 
the line thus describing an oval or parabola. By this 
method the flies are not so apt to be whipped off, and it is, 
withal, more graceful, more en regie. 

The following diagram represents the arcs described by 
the tip of the rod and the flies : 



« 



Fly-Fishixg. 369 

O is supposed to be the angler, and, as we are looking 
down upon him from above, it represents his hat. The 
dark line, a, h, c, is the curve described by the tip of the 
rod in the backward and forward movements of the cast — 
back over the left shoulder, and forward over the right; 
Avhile the dotted curved line, d, e, f, is the approximate arc 
described by the tail-fly, leaving the water at d, and alight- 
ing, by a lengthened cast, at /. By studying these dia- 
grams in connection with the instructions given, the theory 
and mechanical principles will soon be mastered by the 
novice. 

But various ways of casting come into play at certain 
times, and under peculiar circumstances; and the rod will 
be held more or less to one side or the other, or more ver- 
tically, as particular circumstances or emergencies demand. 
For the novice must remember that there are trees and 
bushes, and rocks and winds, to contend with in fly-fish- 
ing; and, moreover, as he becomes proficient, he will choose 
his own style of casting, for no two anglers cast the fly 
exactly alike. 

However, all methods of overhead casting are but varia- 
tions or modifications of the methods described; and the 
particular circumstances calling for them will naturally 
suggest their necessity, use, or advantages to the angler 
as he becomes more expert, and gains in knowledge l)y 
practical experience. It is hardly necessary, therefore, 
or even advisable, to allude more particularly to other ways 
of overhead casting, as it would, in my opinion, tend more 
to confuse than to enlighten the beginner. 

Then there is the side wise cast, where the line is not 

thrown behind the angler at all, but to one side or the 

other. This style of casting is practiced with a short 

line, on very narrow waters, or where the banks of the 

24 



370 Book of the Black Bass. 

stream are thickly clothed with tall grass or bushes^, and 
where there is not sufficient clear space for throwing the 
line behind the angler. 

In this mode of casting, the angler throws the line land- 
ward, over the grass or bushes, to the right or left, as the 
case may be ; and, when the line has unfolded in a straight 
line, to cast toward the water by an opposite sidewise cast. 
]n all otlier respects, the management of the cast must 
approach, as nearly as possible, the regular overhead cast. 

Another method of casting that occasionally comes into 
play is " switching." This mode is very useful where 
high banks, trees or bushes render the overhead and side- 
wise cast impracticable, though it admits of but a very 
short line being used, shorter than in the sidewise cast. 

Switching is i:)erformed by raising the arm and rod to 
their fullest extent, vertically, thus drawing the flies close 
to, and in front of, the angler ; then, by a quick, smart, 
motion of the rod, downward, the flies are projected for- 
ward, or laterally, as the angler may wish. The forward 
motion is much like striking with a whip or switch, and 
is more easil}^ imagined than described. 

But let us go back to our tyro, who has now become 
proficient with the short line, for it is time to lengthen 
his cast, which is done in this way: He pulls off from 
the reel wWh. the left hand three or four feet of line, and 
lifting his rod, slowly at first, by a gradually increasing 
motion lifts the leader and flies and throws them upward 
and backward over the left shoulder, as before described. 
The resistance of the leader and flies, before they leave the 
water, takes the extra length of line from the rod, and it 
is unfolded behind the angler in a straight line, when he 
casts it forward over the right shoulder. 

In this way the line is lengthened at every east, if neces- 



I 



Fly-Fishing. 371 

sary, until the maximum or desired distance is reached. 
But the angler should never let his flies touch the ground 
behind him; but must so time the movement as to propel 
the line forward at exactly the right moment to prevent 
this. 

Another caution: The angler should never attempt to 
cast his flies by main strength, for this will accomplish 
nothing but confusion; it takes but little force to retrieve 
or cast the flies with a well-made, springy and pliant rod. 
The rod, moreover, should never be carried back over the 
shoulder to a distance exceeding an angle of fifteen degrees 
off the perpendicular, for the backward throw is really ac- 
complished by the time the rod is in a vertical position, 
and this might be said, also, to a certain extent, in regard 
to the forward movement or cast proper; for by the time 
the rod is fifteen degrees off the perpendicular in the other 
direction (in front), the main part of the cast is made, and 
the second part of the forward movement is only to follow 
the flies with the point of the rod, to ease their flight, as 
before mentioned; this latter part of the forward cast can 
no more aid or extend the flight of the flies than push- 
ing on the reins can increase the speed of your horse. 

I have now, in the fewest words possible, and in the 
simplest manner, endeavored to explain the " mystery " of 
casting the fly, and I trust the beginner will be able to 
understand it. It is almost impossible to describe the art 
clearly and satisfactorily by mere words. One hour with 
a good fly-fisher will teach the novice more than a hun- 
dred written pages. I have purposely omitted many little 
details of nicety and precision, which would only tend to 
magnify the supposed difficulties of casting, and create 
doubt, confusion, and a lack of confidence in the mind of 
the beginner in the noble art of fly-fishing. 



372 Book of the Black Bass. 

General Instructions. 

It is useless to cast for black bass from high elevations 
near the water, as a bold bank, a projecting rock, a dam, 
etc., under ordinary circumstances; for the angler must 
remember that the most commanding situation for seeing 
the fish also furnishes the best facilities for being seen in 
return, and vice versa. In fishing from a boat, it must be 
kept in deep water, while long casts are made in-shore, 
toward the feeding grounds. We should never fish with 
the sun at our back, or in such a position as to throw the 
shadow of our rod or person upon the water. 

From, what has been said in the chapter on the " condi- 
tions governing the biting of fish,'' it will be apparent that 
it is absolutely necessary that there be a breeze sufficient 
to ruffle the surface of the water. It is folly for the 
angler to east his flies upon a smooth surface, if the water 
is clear enough for fisliing. A gale is better than no wind 
at all, and it does not matter from what direction the wind 
blows, if the condition and temperature of water are right. 
A good breeze is the angler's best ally, for by rippling the 
water it breaks the line of sight, to a great extent, between 
him and the fish. 

The angler should endeavor to cast his flies as lightly 
as possible, causing them to settle without a splash. After 
casting, the flies should be allowed to sink several inches 
near likely-looking spots. If the current is swift, allow 
the flies to float naturally with it, at times, before being 
withdrawn for a new cast. Two or three times are enough 
to cast over any one spot, when a rise is not induced. 

When bass are not biting eagerly, whipping the stream 
may be practiced ; that is. the casts are to be often and 
rapidly repeated, allowing the flies to settle but a moment 
before finally allowing them to sink. In casting and ma- 



Fly-Fishixg. 373 

nipulating the flies, the line must be ever taut; for often 
a bass will thus hook himself, which he never does with a 
slack line. 

Striking and Playing. 

The angler should strike by sight, or by touch; that is, 
he should strike the moment he sees the rise; for the bass 
has either got the fly in his mouth, has missed it, or has al- 
ready ejected it, 'when the rise is seen; it very seldom 
happens that the rise is seen before the fly is reached by the 
fish. The angler must also strike at the moment he feels 
the slightest touch or tug from the fish, for often the bass 
takes the fly without any break at the surface, especially 
if the flies are beneath it. 

Striking is simply a twist of the wrist, or half-turn of 
the rod, either upward or dowuAvard (upw^ard with stiffish 
rods, and downward with very willowy ones), which is suf- 
ficient to set the hook if the rod and line maintain a proper 
state of tension; but when the careless angler has a slack 
line, and, consequently, a lifeless rod, he must necessarily 
strike by a long upward or side sweep of the rod, called 
"yanking," and should he succeed in hooking the fish, 
the chances are that it will shake the hook out again before 
the slack can be reeled up. 

The ti]) of the rod must always be held upward, so that 
the rod constantly maintains a curve with the line; and* 
never, under any circumstances, must the rod point in the 
direction of the flies after they reach the water, for this 
allows the direct strain of the fish to come upon the line 
or leader. "WTien a bass is hooked, he must be killed on 
the rod; the rod must stand the brunt of the contest; the 
more pliable and springy the rod, the less likelihood of its 
breaking, for a stiff rod is more easily fractured than a 



374 Book of the Black Bass. 

flexible one. Give more line only when he takes it; make 
him fight for every inch, and take it back when you can; 
hold him by the spring of the rod, and do not hesitate to 
turn the butt toward him to keep him away from weeds, 
rocks, snags, or other dangerous places ; this will bring him 
up with a round turn, and is called " giving the butt." 

Don't be in a hurry to land him; the longer he resists, 
the better for your sport; take your time and only land 
him when he is completely exhausted; for if he is well 
hooked, and the proper tension of rod and line maintained, 
he can not get away; on the other hand, if he is tenderly 
hooked, the more gingerly he is handled the better. There- 
fore, never be in a hurry, and never attempt to force mat- 
ters; always keep a bent rod and taut line; if the bass 
breaks water on a short line, the best plan is to lower the 
tip, so as to slack the line, but immediately raise the rod 
and tighten the line when he strikes the water again, for 
if he falls on a taut line he is most sure to escape; this 
is one of his most wily tricks. With a long line it does 
not matter so much. 

Remarks, Hints, and Advice. 

It has been doubted by some that the black bass will 
rise to the fly, or at best that they are uncertain in their 
modes and times of doing so, as compared with the brook 
trout. These doubts are mostly raised by those who angle 
for the black bass in precisely the same way as for the 
brook trout, upon the supposition that the two fish are 
identical in habits and instincts. But while their habits 
of feeding are very similar — both feeding on the bottom, 
in midwater, or on the surface, on Crustacea, larvae, min- 
nows, insects, etc. — they differ greatly in other habitual 
features and idiosvncrasies. 



Fly-Fishing. 375 

The black bass will rise to the fly as readily, under any 
and ftll conditions, as the brook trout, when fished for 
understandingly, and under proper precautions. There are 
times, seemingly favorable, when neither bass nor trout will 
rise to the fly. 

One reason why the bass is thought to be uncertain in 
rising to the fly is this : While he is fully as wary as the 
trout he is not so timid. A trout darts incontinently 
away at the first glimpse of the angler, and is seen no 
more; but the bass will retire but a short distance, and 
as often will stand his ground, and on balanced fins will 
watch the angler vainly casting his " brown ha'ckle " or 
"coachman" over him, perhaj^s laughing in his sleeve 
(shoulder girdle) at his discomfiture. The truth of the 
matter is, the bass is not uncertain, but he is too knowing 
to be deceived by his flies, so long as the angler is in sight. 

Fish are more suspicious regarding objects on the sur- 
face of the water than of those beneath. I have often 
demonstrated this, causing them to skurry away, by hold- 
ing a long stick immediately over them, above the surface ; 
while I could introduce the same stick underneath the 
water and even prod a fish with it, without alarming it 
much. This is why more caution is necessary in fly-fish- 
ing than in bait-fishing; the bait in one instance being on 
the surface, and in the other, beneath. If a black bass, in 
rushing to the surface for the fly sees the angler, he at 
once stops in his course, and thenceforth the daintiest flies, 
though never so deftly tlirown, will be cast in vain while 
the angler remains in view. 

In the London " Field " once appeared an article, written 
by the former able editor of that valuable paper, Francis 
Francis, Esq., on the frightening of brook trout by the 
flashing and reflections of a varnished fly-rod, when wildly 



376 Book of the Black Bass. 

waved by the angler in castings and wliich^ at first sight, 
would seem to be plausible enough; but upon mature con- 
sideration, and with all due deference to so eminent an 
authority as Mr. Francis, I am convinced that there is not 
much in it, and that instead of proving the matter he 
seemed to be rather begging the question. 

The theory of angling, like the theory of medicine, is 
rather an uncertain subject, and oj^posite positions can be 
taken and seemingly maintained upon almost any question 
of either science, until the crucial test of practical experi- 
ence proves their truth or falsity. The fact is, that fish 
are not frightened by flashes of light or the reflections of 
bright objects, but, on the contrary, are attracted by them ; 
any one who has ever fished by torchlight, or trolled witli 
a bright metal spoon, can testify to this, and there is a 
method of fishing practiced by the Chinese, by means of a 
board painted white and attached to a ])oat at such an an- 
gle as to reflect the light of the moon upon the water, 
when the fish, attracted by this, jump upon the board as 
the boat is moved along. 

That fish are not much disturbed, if at all, by the flash- 
ing of a polished fly-rod, per sc, can be easily proven by 
any one who, being securely hid behind a clump of ])ushes, 
can wave his rod as " wildly " as necessary without alarm- 
ing them to an extent to frighten them away or prevent 
their biting; indeed, the unnatural shaking or disturbance 
of a bush near the brink, by the careless angler, will alarm 
the denizens of the stream more than the most highly-var- 
nished and brightly-mounted rod ever made, when waved 
over the stream by an angler who keeps himself hid from 
view; and herein lies, to my mind, the key to this whole 
matter. 

It is the angler who scares the trout, and not his rod; 



Fly-Fishixg. 3? 7 

and this probably applies with more force to the compara- 
tively narrow and open streams of Great Britain than to 
the more extensive waters of our own country; this view 
seems more probable in connection with the fact that Mr. 
Francis advises casting sideways instead of overhead, which 
method could only be practiced successfully on narrow 
streams, for sideway casts are necessarily short ones, and 
would not answer at all for most of our Avaters. There 
are situations, however, when the sideway cast can be used 
advantageously, and is used occasionally by all good fly- 
fishers. 

The main rules to be observed in fly-fishing I conceive 
to be these : on narroAV streams to keejD entirely out of sight, 
and on open waters to make long casts ; in either case, the 
fish, not seeing the angler, will not be alarmed at the flash- 
ing of the rod ; the finer the water the greater the caution 
that must be used on the one hand, and the longer must 
be the cast on the other. 

Mr. Francis does not offer any remedy for the var- 
nished rod, but merely suggests that it might answer to 
paint it sky-blue, or a dull, smoky tint, without polish ; but 
this, I know, will not do. I have seen rods that had the 
varnish scraped off and were painted a delicate pea-green, 
to harmonize with the foliage of trout streams, and I have 
seen the bark left on alder, elm, and tamarack poles when 
used in bait-fishing, but they were not more successful 
than the varnished rod. 

Split-l)amboo and other jointed rods must of necessity be 
varnished to preserve their elasticity and l^eauty. Think 
of a delicate split-baml^oo tip coated with sky-blue paint ! 
The very thought is heresy, and an offense against the 
eternal fitness of things that would make even the spots 
on a brook trout blush more deeply crimson. American 



378 Book or the Black Bass. 

split-bamboo rods are the best in the world, and the nu- 
merous foreign orders received by the manufacturers fully 
attest this fact, and shoAV, moreover, that they are duly 
appreciated abroad, as well as at home, highly varnished 
and flashing though they be. 

There is one feature of this subject that is peculiarly 
gratifying to me, and I heartily thank Mr. Francis for the 
article in question! It concedes the fact that fish, having 
eyes, can see, and are not the near-sighted dupes that most 
writers would have us believe; this concession could not 
be put in a stronger light than by the assertion that they 
are frightened at the flashing of a varnished rod, and that 
a rod, therefore, should be rendered as nearly invisible as 
possible by painting it a sky-blue or cloud color. But if 
this were done, what a quantity of brash wood and poor 
Avorkmanship, and what a multitude of sins of omission 
and commission would this sky-blue mantle, like charity, 
cover ! 

When fish are frightened at a fishing-rod at all, it is 
when its shadow is suddenly cast upon the water — which 
all prudent anglers are very careful to avoid doing, espe- 
cially on small streams — and, viewed in this light, a sk)^- 
blue rod has not even a fancied advantage over the most 
higlily-polished one. 

The most important rule, then, to be observed, first, last, 
and all the time in fly-fishing, is : Keep out of sight of the 
fish; this is the first and great injunction; "and the sec- 
ond is like unto it : " Keep as quiet and motionless as pos- 
sible. "On these two" laAvs depends all your success in 
fly-fishing. Let your necessary movements l)e deliberate 
and methodical, avoiding all quick, sudden, or energetic 
motions. Fish see and hear much better than we give 
them credit for. To keep out of the fish's sight we must 



I 



Fly-fishing. 379 

be screened by such natural objects as bushes, trees, rocks, 
etc., or by keeping well back from the brink and making 
long casts. In wading, it is also necessary to make long 
casts. The latter is the best plan of fishing a stream, as 
the angler, being so near the water, is not so apt to be seen. 

It is best, always, to fish down stream, even with the 
wind against one, for fish always lie with head up stream, 
and Avill be more apt to see your flies. The current will, 
moreover, take your flies down stream, and so keep your 
line taut. It is also easier to wade down, than up stream. 
Many other reasons might be given, but these will be suffi- 
cient. Cast just below ripples and rapids, over eddies and 
pools, along the edges of weed patches, under projecting 
banks and shelving rocks, near submerged trees or drift- 
wood, off gravelly shoals, isolated rocks and long points or 
spurs of land; it is useless to fish long, deep, still reaches 
of water. 

The most favorable time for fly-fishing for black bass 
is during the last hours of the day, from sundown until 
dark, and also on bright moonlight evenings. On streams, 
an hour or two following sunrise, in warm weather, is 
quite favorable. On dark, cloudy, and cold days the mid- 
dle hours -are best. Bright sunny days, especially in hot 
weather, are not favorable to fly-fishing, except in quite 
cool, shady, and breezy situations. In short, the best con- 
ditions are a mellow or dusky light, a good breeze, and 
translucent water; while the most unfavorable are a bright 
sun, a still atmosphere, and a smooth and glassy surface, 
with the water either very fine or very turbid. 

And now, in concluding this portion of my subject, let 
me say a parting word to the beginner: Cast a straight 
line; keep it taut; strike upon sight, or touch; kill your 
fish on the rod ; take your time. It is better to cast a short 
line well, than a long one bunglingly. Should you cast 



380 Book of the Black Bass. 

your fly into a branch of a tree overhead^ or into a liush 
behind yon, or miss your fish in striking, or lose him when 
hooked, or crack of? your tail-fly, or slip into a hole up to 
your armpits — keep your temper ; above all things don't 
swear, " lest you be heard," as Izaak Walton says, " and 
catch no fish." Eemember, yours is the gentle art, and a 
fly-fisher should be a gentleman. 

A Eeminiscence. 

Toward the close of a day in the mild September, I was 
leisurely riding my tired mare across the ford of a narrow 
rocky river that wound around the foot of a thickly-wooded 
cliff, with here and there a pool in the shadow or a ripple in 
the sun, while stretching away a mile or two across the fer- 
tile bottom lands were fields of waving corn, fragrant 
clover, blue-grass and broad-leaved tobacco. 

Up the stream a hundred yards away, stood, leaning over 
the water, an old stone mill, whose lichen-covered walls and 
moss-grown roof proclaimed its hoary age. Its old wheel 
went rumbling on its merry round, mingling its regular, 
rhythmic plashing with the monotone of the tumbling, 
rushing waters of the dam. 

Down the stream another hundred yards, an old-time, 
covered bridge, decrepid and gray, spanned the little river, 
casting cool and dark shadows beneath and below. 

The sun was sinking low beyond the fields, flinging bars 
of yellow flame through the slender strips of fleecy clouds 
that stretched across the western portal of the steel-blue 
sky, lighting up the crimson of the newly-dyed sumach on 
the cliff, flashing on the foaming waters of the falls, and 
festooning with golden streamers and silver ribbons the 
long, dank, green arms of the old water-wheel. 

Beneath the bridge a group of ruminating, sleek-coated 



Fly-Fishing. 381 

cows stood whisking their tails in calm contentment, as the 
grateful stream laved their cloven feet and their breath ex- 
haled the odors of sw^eet cream, white clover and golden 
butter. 

As my mare drank deeply from the refreshing stream, T 
gazed upon the lovely scene, and thought that nowhere else 
in all the world but in this broad land of ours could such a 
view be found. 

The sublime glories of the Alps ; the soft Italian skies ; 
the splendors of the Tropics; the olive-crowned hills of 
Andalusia ; the vine-clad slopes of the Riviera — all alike 
paled before this calm and peaceful, soul-filling, heart- 
satisfying, homelike scene. 

But what was that ? — a bar of silvery sheen flashed for 
a moment in the sun and dropped back into the eddy behind 
yon huge gray boulder under the cliff! I pretend to be 
surprised, but — pshaw ! how idle it is to attempt to de- 
ceive oneself. All the time that I was hollowly and falsely 
descanting upon the matchless beauty of the stream and its 
surroundings, I, like an artful, double-tongued hypocrite, 
was watching for the very thing that occurred — the leap 
of a bass ! 

Silently I rode my mare to the shade of the cliff, tied 
the reins to the convenient limb of a low-branching elm, 
unstrapped my umbrella from the saddle, and from its folds 
drew forth a fly-rod that had been artfully and surrep- 
titiously concealed there — another evidence of the insin- 
cerity of man. 

From a corner of my pill-bags I brazenly took out a 
buckskin bag, in which was a small click reel with its line 
of enameled silk. From a pocket of my professional coat 
I brought to the light of day what, ostensibly, purported to 
be a prescription book, but in reality was a book of flies! 

How guilty I felt ! What an arrant humbug I was ! But 



382 Book of the Black Bass. 

there was no time for moralizing — I just heard the splasli 
of another bass ! I soon had rod and reel, line and leader 
together, and a " polka '' and a " professor ^^ were soon 
dancing over the water together ! 

I had stepped from boulder to boulder, in the shadow of 
the cliff, until I had reached a vantage point at the foot 
and edge of the riffle, with the sun in my face and broken 
water all around me. I knew of half a dozen deep holes 
and sheltered eddies within the length of my cast, from 
which I would be completely hidden by two Jagged rocks 
that rose in front of me, half as high as my head. 

Then like a guilty thing I began casting in ever-widen- 
ing circles — all the time pretending to watch the play of 
the sunshine on the water, or the blackbird that was drink- 
ing at the verge of the stream. 

Then I saw a swirl behind the gray boulder — but pre- 
tended to be listening to a squirrel barking at me from 
the projecting limb of a hickory, whose glossy, green leaves 
were just touched with the faintest suspicion of old gold. 

Then I made another cast as straight as the maple boll 
behind me. The flies dropped just over and beyond the 
smooth, gray boulder, and as tliey were drawn into its eddy 
the " polka ^' disa]:)pcared, and something seemed to lift the 
water just there for an. instant, and then — what a lively 
staccato to that kingfisher's rattle! 

But, bless my soul ! it is my reel that is giving so merry 
a hum ! I must stop that. Then, as I follow the erratic 
flight of a dragon-fly across the stream, I can't help ob- 
serving my strained line cutting like mad through the 
water, and as I look up at a crow flying overhead I see that 
my rod is l)ent, and strained and twisted, and altogether 
there seems to be something unusual going on in the water, 
and as I look — out into the sunshine with bristling fins 
and red, extended jaws there leaps a bass ! 



Fly-fishing. 383 

Then I am kept busy leading my line away from jagged 
rocks in front, and can only do so by holding my rod at 
arm's length above my head. But now I have led the cap- 
tive into the deep pool below me, and near the cliff. Then 
I have leisure to look up at my squirrel, who, with a hick- 
ory nut in his paws, is raining down the pieces of its hull 
in a green shower at the river's side, and — there leaps the 
bass again ! — and again ! Then again the singing of the 
reel as he dives to the depths of the pool. 

Ah ! listen to the allegro of the mocking-bird atop of 
5'onder beech, as he begins his sunset sonata — the click of 
my reel a castinet accompaniment — and now, while slowjy 
reeling in the line, the andante of the glorious songster is 
poured out on the quivering air — and then the trio — the 
bird and bass and I — and last of all the finale, as I drop 
the butt of the rod and the reel into my coat pocket, and 
hug my vertical rod, while lifting out the spent warrior in 
green and silver sheen, and quickly dispatching him, toss 
him among the ferns at the foot of the hickory, to the great 
displeasure of my squirrel, who scolds and scampers away 
with the nut in his cheek. 

Then, filling my pipe, the blue smoke ascends in curling 
wreaths and is borne away up the face of the cliff on the 
soft evening air, while the tinkle of a cow-bell and the hoot 
of an owl comes from the direction of the old bridge. 

But the sun is on the edge of the horizon, the fall is 
bathed in flame, the mill-wheel is hung with rubies, the be- 
lated crows caw loudly, and the " professor " and the 
'' polka " are dancing on saffron and crimson foam to the 
strident strains of the cicada's fiddle. What, another rise? 
Another l)as?. perliaps ! No, it must have been a swallow 
dipping its wing. 

The gentle swish of the supple rod is music sweet as the 
" professor " and the " polka " follow each other, now in 



384 Book of the Black Bass. 

aerial flighty now along the shining water. Egad ! there's 
no mistaking that tug ! The reel and the cicada now have 
it ! The line hisses through the water ! Look out for the 
sharp rock ! See that blundering bat ! • Ah, what a leap ! 
— how he dashed the golden, crimson rain ! Again the 
duet — the shrill cicada and the buzzing reel ! He breaks 
again, again falls back ! The rod is bending, surging 
through the air — and now the frogs pipe up — the sun is 
down — and, bless me ! here's another l^ass ! 

I step ashore, and string them on a willow wand. The 
mill-wheel has stopped; the water tuml)les over the fall 
with a lonesome sound. The whippoorwill is calling from 
the cliff. The squirrel is in his nest. The mocking-bird 
has found his mate. The cows are lowing at the farmer's 
gate. My patient nag is neighing for her master. "All 
right, Jenny ! " 

I do not feel so guilty in the gloaming; and as the first 
silent star apjoears, I sto]) at the little tumbledown gate 
before the cabin of " Old Dave," who " cot do rheumatiz in 
de fresh' las' spring." 

" Hello ! Aunt Judy. How's Uncle Dave ? " 

" Howdy, Doctah ! I^r' l)ress you, honey, de ole man's 
mitey po'ley — jist kin hol)])le roun', an' dat's all. He 
'lowed to 'gin cuttin' 'l^acca fer ]\Iars' Brack nex' week — 
but 'less he men's mitey fas' he won't cut more'n a 'l^acca 
wum kin chaw ! Don't tink he's long fer ole Kaintuck, 
no how ! " 

" Come here. Aunt Judy ; here's two nice bass for you — 
they'll go nearly two pounds apiece. A gentleman fishing 
down at the river gave them to me as I came along. 
They'll make a fine breakfast for you and Uncle Dave in 
the morning. Good night ! " 

And Jenny and I jogged along toward home, under 
the bright stars, at jieace with all the world. 



Casting the Minxow. 385 

CHAPTER XXII. 

CASTING THE MINNOW. 

"And as to the rest that concerns this sort of angling, I shall 
wholly refer you to Mr. Walton's direction, who is undoubtedly 
tlie best angler with a minnow in England." — Charles Cotton. 

Next to fly-fishings casting the minnow is the most ar- 
tistic mode of angling for the black bass. To obtain all 
of the j^leasnre and sport embodied in this style of fishing, 
none but the best and most approved tackle should be em- 
ployed, which should approach, in its general features of 
elegance and lightness, the implements used in fly-fishing. 
A faithful study of the conformation, habits, and idiosyn- 
crasies of game-fish should be the first consideration of the 
true angler, though the average angler usually contents 
himself with a superficial knowledge of the ways and means 
of capturing and killing the finny tribe, a big catch being 
the height of his piscatorial ambition. While good tackle 
is essential to success, a thorough knowledge of the habits 
of the fish is a sine qua non, without which no one can be- 
come an expert and successful angler. 

Apropos of this might be mentioned the old and hack- 
neyed story of the rustic youth with alder pole, twine string, 
and worm bait, and the soi-disant angler with split-bamboo 
and well-filled fly-book, who indulged in a day^s fishing 
on the same stream, with the result of a ^^ big string " for 
the bo}', and one poor fingerling for the disgusted sports- 
man. The boy understood the " true inwardness " of the 
trout, in which matter the discomfited citizen was lament- 
25 



386 Book: op the Black Bass. 

ably ignorant^ and relied entirely upon his splendid rig for 
success. 

Where black bass are plentiful, as in the quiet ponds 
and lakes of Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, 
at the Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence, and in the 
extreme south, the merest tyro, who can throw his bait 
twenty feet from the boat, can, when the bass are in a 
biting mood, show a big catch, though he may necessarily 
have failed to land two out of every three fish hooked. 
But on small rivers, where the angler casts to the right 
and left and across the stream from the banks, and while 
wading the shallows and bars, and the bass are shy, edu- 
cated, and fully up in a knowledge of the stream in its 
windings, eddies, j^ools, and rapids, the highest skill and a 
thorough knowledge of the habits of the fish are indispen- 
sable to a full creel ; and this, at the same time, constitutes 
the pleasure and perfection of black bass angling. 

But bear in mind, that sticking the butt of a long rod 
in the bank, and then, while reclining under the shade of 
some umbrageous tree, enjoying a pipe or the latest novel 
while waiting an hour for a bite, is not angling, but sim- 
ply loafing, and attempting to obtain bass under false 
pretenses. 

Casting the minnow is quite an art, as much so as casting 
the fly; indeed, I think there are more good fly casters 
than good casters of the live minnow. Mediocrity in both 
methods of angling is readily acquired, but great excel- 
lence and perfect skill are rarely attained in either. The 
two methods are essentially and practically different, and 
require implements and tools commensurate with this dif- 
ference. 

While the fly-rod is willowy and long, the minnow-rod 
is short and comparatively stiff ;. the fly-line is rather heavy 



Casting the Mixxow. 387 

and of large caliber as compared with the minnow-line, 
which should be as fine and light as possible, consistent 
with strength. The artificial fly is cast by the weight of 
the fly-line and suppleness of the rod, while the weight of 
the bait, and swivel or sinker, give the necessary momentum 
for casting the minnow. The fly is usually cast overhead, 
directly in front of the angler, while the minnow can only 
be cast, for any great distance, to one side or the other, or 
obliquely, by underhand casting. 

Minnow Tackle. 
The Minnow Casting Rod. — The rod for casting the 
live minnow should be shorter and stiffer than the fly-rod, 
but of about the same relative weight ; for it, like the fly- 
rod, is a single-handed rod. It should be from eight to 
eight and one-half feet long. Eight and a quarter feet is 
the standard length that I have advocated for many years, 
though the manufacturers, in order to suit all tastes, now 
make this style of rod from seven and one-half to eight 
and one-half feet long. It should weigh from six and a 
half to eight ounces, according to the material and excel- 
lence of its construction. It should be well balanced, with 
a stiffish back, to insure good casting, but pliable enough to 
respond to the slightest movement of the fish. Most of the 
bend and play should be in the upper two-thirds of the 
rod, which l^end should be a true arch, and not a horse-shoe 
curve, as is often seen in a poorly-constructed and weak- 
backed rod. The best material for a serviceable rod of this 
character is an ash butt and laneewood second and third 
pieces, the latter being usually known as the tip. The 
reel-seat should be from six to eight inches from the ex- 
treme butt, and no more, for this rod must be used with the 
hand alone, and should not extend under the elbow for sup- 



388 Book of the Black Bass. 

port; like the old-fashioned long and heavy rods. It should 
have light standing guides instead of rings. 

The capabilities of the minnow-casting rod are equal to 
most of the possibilities of bait-fishing, as it has been m}' 
good fortune to prove on many occasions. To the unversed 
in the real art of angling it is simply wonderful to see what 
an amount of strain the little rod will successfully endure, 
and to witness the comparative ease with which exception- 
ally large fish are killed by one who knows the latent 
virtues of the Henshall rod. 

Long ago, before every island boasted a summer cottage 
and a steam-launch, and when the black bass, or masca- 
longe, were to be found in almost every rock-bound, lily- 
fringed cove, the Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence 
possessed attractions for the lover of the beautiful and the 
angler that is hard to realize at the present day. 

Such a time I remember well ; and one day of that hal- 
cyon period is marked on the calendar of memory by a pure 
white stone that sometimes, when the fit of retrospection is 
on, shines out vividly in the " hollow down by the flare " in 
the bright coal fire in the grate, or in the log fire in camp. 

It was below Grenadier Island, in the shallower portion 
of the river, along the edges of the rushes, deer-tongue and 
water-lilies, that a dear friend (poor Dick ! he is dead now) 
and I were casting the minnow for black bass. On that 
lovely July morning I killed, on an ash and lancewood, 
eight-ounce rod, a mascalonge weighing thirty-two pounds, 
in twenty minutes. 

But, it is under the palms and live-oaks of southern 
Florida that the angler is more likely to encounter finny 
giants that will test the strength and endurance of his 
tackle, and exercise to the full his stock of piscatorial skill 
and finesse. 



Casting the Minnow. 389 

A few days after Christmas, in the winter of 1881, my 
wife and I were fishing in San Sebastian River a half mile 
above its confluence with Indian River. We had been up 
one of the branches of the river fishing for black bass, and 
I was using an eight-ounce, ash and lancewood Henshall 
rod, and ordinary black bass tackle. 

On this occasion, and with this rod and tackle, I killed a 
redfish, or channel bass, in twenty minutes, that weighed 
fully thirty-five pounds, though, as I did not weigh it, T 
called it thirty. It was a heavier and gamer fish than the 
mascalonge alluded to above ; and, as I have weighed a good 
many redfish running from twenty to forty pounds, I can 
certainly guess within five pounds of the weight of one 
within these limits. 

I was casting the minnow for black bass, on another oc- 
casion, up the St. Lucie River, in southern Florida, and 
with the same rod and tackle just mentioned I hooked, 
killed and landed a tarpon of thirty-three pounds, in fifteen 
minutes. 

I have, with the same, or similar rods and tackle, killed 
many pike, mascalonge, tarpon, groupers, salt-water trout, 
etc., between ten and twenty pounds, but merely mention 
the above instances to prove the power of the minnow- 
casting black bass rod of eight ounces in weight and eight 
and a quarter feet in length, and this must be my excuse 
for alluding to them here. 

The introduction of this rod has no doubt done more than 
any thing else to popularize this style of fishing, and we 
may now consider minnow-casting as not only firmly es- 
tablished, but as an original and American method of ang- 
ling that is peculiarly adapted to bait-fishing in our varied 
and extensive waters. 

As an instance of its popularity I might add that, dur- 



390 Book of the Black Bass. 

ing the past twenty years, I have seen it employed in the 
waters tributary to the Red Eiver of the North, in the 
Northern Peninsula of Michigan and Wisconsin, in nearly 
all the Provinces of Canada, and in Florida, and in many 
waters between. I have also seen it in numerous instances 
made to apply as well to estuary or coast fishing. 

While minnow-casting for black bass is the most popu- 
lar method in vogue in the middle west, it is very gratify- 
ing to me to see the favor with which it has been received 
in the eastern states, and the remarkable progress that has 
been made in that best of all modes of bait-fishing; for it 
must be remembered that black bass fishing north of the 
Potomac and east of the Alleghany Mountains is of com- 
paratively recent origin, as it has not been many years 
since the black bass was introduced into eastern waters. 

As a member of the Committee of Arrangements of the 
tournaments of the National Eod and Reel Association, I 
succeeded in having a special contest for "casting the 
minnow for black bass " admitted in the program of 
events at the tournament of 1884, when the longest cast, 
with a half-ounce sinker, was made by Professor Alfred M. 
Mayer, the same being 97 feet. 

At the subsequent tournaments the casting continually 
improved, until at the one, held in May, 1888, there were 
three gentlemen who cast upward of fifty yards; and out 
of five casts made by Mr. A. F. Dresel, the successful 
competitor, three of them went beyond fifty yards, and one 
reached the extraordinary distance of 168 feet, 4 inches. 
The weight of sinker cast was one-half ounce. The rods 
used were about eight and a quarter feet long, and about 
nine ounces in weight. 

Mr. F. B. Davidson, of Chicago, however, holds the re- 
cord for the longest casts with a half-ounce sinker. He 



I 



Casting the Minxow. 391 

was awarded medals as follows: At the contest during 
the Chicago World's Fair, on September 2-J:th, 1893, long- 
est cast 152 feet. I was one of the judges of this event. 
At a contest of the Chicago Fly-Casting Club, August 5th, 
1894, he cast 179 feet. At a subsequent contest, about 
1896, he made three casts of 198 feet; his average of five 
casts being 173 feet. 

The Reel. — The multiplying reel is the only one 
adapted to casting the minnow, and it should be the very 
best one made. It should run as easily and smoothly as 
possible, and multiply from two to four times. The im- 
proved black bass reels referred to in the chapter on reels 
are all excellent implements. 

The Reel-Line. — First and foremost among the suit- 
able lines is the smallest size, H, or No. 6, plaited raw silk 
line. It should be braided hard and close, and tinted or 
parti-colored. Where the bass are exceptionally large, 
size G, or No. 5, may be used, though the smaller or finer 
the line the better, for a gut leader can not be used in cast- 
ing the minnow, and longer casts can be made with the 
finest lines. The proper length for a reel-line is fifty 
yards. 

The boiled silk braided line is next best, but it is not so 
closely plaited, usually, as the raw silk line, and conse- 
quently absorbs more water, which is detrimental to cast- 
ing. When it is as hard braided as the raw silk line it is 
about as good. 

Next in order is the braided linen line ; the smallest size, 
G, or No. 5, is the only size to be used, and that is rather 
large. 

The last, though with some not the least, in point of 
merit, is the relaid Japanese sea-grass (so-callpd) line, 
which is made of raw silk, and in some respects is a better 



392 Book of the Black Bass. 

line than any mentioned^ being of smaller caliber, very 
hard twisted, and absorbing less water when new. But 
being a twisted line, it is apt to kink where much casting 
is practiced. 

Twisted silk, linen, or cotton lines should never be used 
in this mode of angling, as their kinking propensities will 
ruffle the temper of the mildest-mannered angler. 

Hools. — The hook beyond comparison, for black bass 
fishing, is the Sproat. It is a true, central-draught hook, 
and tempered just right. It has a short barb, with cutting 
edges, which will go right through any part of a fish's 
mouth. The next best, in the order named, are the 
O'Shaughnessy and round bend Carlisle (Aberdeen). 
These hooks are all numbered about alike, and the most 
suitable sizes are Nos. 1 and 2. Hooks should be tied on 
gut-snells, single or double, good single gut being best. 
Where pickerel abound, the gimp-snell may be used. 

Swivels. — A l)rass l)ox-swivel of the smallest size sliould 
always be used, and often it will be heavy enough without 
an additional sinker. 

Sinl'ers. — Einged or swivel sinkers, or what is still 
better, the patent adjustable sinkers of various kinds, are 
the best to use, when they are found necessary. 

Floats. — The float should never be used in casting the 
minnow if it can possibly be dispensed with. It is always 
in the way, and long casts can not be made when it is em- 
ployed. To overcome this difficulty and ol)jection, several 
patent floats have been devised, which are mentioned in 
chapter xvii. In still fishing, the float may be used and 
with advantage, especially where helgramites or crawfish 
are used as bait. 



Castixg the Minnow. 393 

ElGGING THE CaST. 

In rigging the cast with the minnow, the reel must be 
placed underneath the rod, on a line with the guides. 
Many anglers use the reel on top, but this is essentially 
wrong. The weight of the reel naturally takes it under the 
rod, where it balances better and enables the rod to be held 
more steadily; the strain of the line also falls upon the 
guides, which insures a more perfect working of the rod. 
Both click and multiplying reels should always be used 
underneath ; they are intended to be so used, and it will be 
found far the best way when one becomes accustomed to 
this plan. 

The reel then being underneath, the line is rove through 
the guides and a box-swivel tied on the end; to the other 
ring of the swivel is looped the snell of the hook. The 
hook is then passed through the lips of a minnow, from 
two to four inches long. If the minnow is carefully 
hooked, it will live a comparatively long time. If a sinker 
be required in addition to the swivel, it should be placed a 
foot above it. 

Making the Cast. 

Now reel up the line until the sinker, or swivel, as the 
case may be, is a few inches from the tip of the rod, and we 
are ready to make a cast, which I will now endeavor to e:^- 
plain with the aid of the annexed diagram and cuts : 



In the diagram, A represents the angler; we are sup- 
posed to be looking down upon him from above, so that 



394 Book of the Black Bass. 

only his hat and rod are visible. He is facing B. The 
angler now wishes to make a cast to the left, X being the 
objective point to which he desires to cast the minnow, 
some twenty yards distant. He grasps the rod immedi- 
ately below the reel with the right hand, with the thumb 
resting lightly but firmly upon the spool, to control the 
rendering of the line; the right arm is extended down- 
ward, slightly bent, with the elbow near the body, and 
with the extreme butt of the rod nearly touching the right 
hip; the thumb and reel are upward, inclining slightly 
toward the left; the tip of the rod, or rather the minnow, 
just clears the ground or surface of the water (the angler 
is supposed to be wading, standing in a boat, or on the 
bank) ; the position of the rod is now in the direction of 
the line A C, inclining toward the ground or water, making 
an angle of about 30 deg. with the line of the shoulders, 
X Z (the inclination of the rod is shown fully in figure 4) ; 
this is the situation at the beginning of the cast. 

Now for the cast : The angler turns his face toward X, 
the objective point, without turning his body; he now in- 
clines his body in the direction of C, advancing the right 
foot and bending the right knee slightly, and makes a 
sweeping cast from the right to the left, and from below 
upward, across the body diagonally, until the rod-hand is 
at the height of the left shoulder, and the arm and rod 
extended in the direction of A D, with the tip of the rod 
inclining upAvard, as shown in figure 5. 

The movement of the right hand is almost in a straight 
line from a point near the right hip to a point near the 
left shoulder; the motion in casting is steady, increasing 
in swiftness toward the end of the cast, and ending with 
the " pitching " of the bait — instead of a violent jerk — 



Casting the Minnow. 



395 




396 Book of the Black Bass. 

somewhat similar to the straight underhand pitching of a 
base-ball. 

In making the cast, the right elbow should touch the 
body, sweeping across it, and only leave it at the end of 
the cast, making the forearm do the work. At the end of 
the cast, the reel and thumb are upward, and the rod forms 
an angle of 30 deg. with the line of the shoulders X Z, and 
the minnow, instead of following the direction of the rod 
A D, as some might suppose, will, from the slight curve 
described by the rod during the cast, diverge toward the 
left, and drop at X, when the thumb should immediately 
stop the reel by an increased pressure. 

Casting to the right is just the reverse of the above pro- 
ceeding. The angler being in the same position, brings 
the right hand across, and touching the body, to a point 
in front of the left hip, the thumb and reel upward, but 
inclining toward the body, and the rod extending in the 
direction of the line A D, with the tip downward, as shown 
in figure 6; he now turns his face in the direction of the 
objective point Z, inclines his body and advances his left 
foot in the direction of D; and makes a cast from left to 
right, from below upward, and ends the cast with the right 
arm and rod fully extended in the direction of the line 
A C, as shown in figure 7, while the minnow takes its 
flight toward Z. This is a back-handed cast, and is some- 
what analogous to the pitching of a quoit. 

In making either cast the body should sway slightly and 
simultaneously with the rod arm, in the direction of the 
cast, to add force and steadiness; but on no account must 
the cast be made by main strength, as it requires but slight 
muscular exertion to cast forty yards; and on no account 
must the rod be carried further toward the line X Z than 
an angle of thirty degrees, otherwise the bait will be thrown 



Casting the Minxow. 



397 




398 Book of the Black Bass. 

behind the angler. Particular care must be taken to give 
the bait an upward impulse as it leaves the rod. 

The first cast that the beginner makes will be likely to 
throw the bait behind him, for reasons just given. He 
should, by all means, begin by making short casts, and 
lengthen them as he perfects himself by experience in 
managing the reel and controlling the cast. While but a 
few yards of line can be cast directly in front of the be- 
ginner, he should practice casting at various angles with 
the line X Z, to the left and right. He should avoid over- 
head casting, for that is the pot-fisher's method of throwing 
a bait, and is not only an awkward, but a very inefficient 
style of casting the minnow, and should not be practiced 
except where the reel is dispensed with, as in one mode of 
still-fishing. 

At the beginning of the cast the thumb presses firmly 
upon the spool of the reel, until just before the tip of the 
rod gains its greatest extent or elevation, when the pressure 
is to be slightly relieved, so as to permit the release of tlie 
line, and allow the minnow to be projected in the direction 
of the cast. The exact time to lessen the pressure of the 
thumb and start the minnow on its flight, is almost a 
matter of intuition which can hardly be explained; how- 
ever, the proper time is soon learned by practice, in which 
event, the " wrinkle " comes to be performed by the angler 
automatical^, or, as it were, unconsciously. 

The entire cast must be made so steadily and so regu- 
larly, and the rod held so firmly at the end of the cast, as 
to prevent entirely any undue swaying or bending of the 
rod, in order that the line may follow the direction of the 
minnow in its flight, smoothly and evenly, and untram- 
meled and unretarded by any vibratory motions of the 
rod. I trust I make myself understood here, for this is 



Casting the Minnow. 399 

the most essential, and, at the same time, the most difficult 
feature, or portion, of the cast to explain, or acquire. 

The thumb must be thoroughly educated to control the 
rendering of the line during the cast, and this can only 
be accomplished by continual and patient practice, in train- 
ing the thumb to apply just the requisite amount of uni- 
form pressure, to prevent the overrunning of the line, or 
back-lashing of the spool. 

The beginner should make up his mind, in the first place, 
to keep his temper, and to exhibit no impatience at the 
frequent slipping of his thumb, and the consequent snarl- 
ing and tangling of his line. The more calmly and philo- 
sophically he views these annoyances and perplexities, the 
sooner will he overcome the difficulties and become au fait 
in the management of the reel. The best instruction I 
can give him is to make the pressure of the thumb gentle, 
but firm and uniform, during the flight of the minnow, 
and to stop the revolving spool the moment the bait alights 
on the water by a stronger pressure. 

These directions are as brief, plain and explicit, as it is 
possible to make them; they embody the main principles 
involved, and the novice, by a careful and j^ractical appli- 
cation of them, can, by perseverance, soon become a good 
caster of the live minnow. 

Should the angler be sitting in a boat, the directions 
just given must be somewhat modified to meet that condi- 
tion; but they should be followed as closely as possible. 

Casting the frog overhead, with a very short rod, as men- 
tioned in Chapter ix, is now practiced to some extent, but 
it does not appeal to the artistic angler, and requires no 
special directions. 



400 Book of the Black Bass. 

General Instructions. 

If fishing from a boat, on a lake or large pond, the 
angler proceeds in his boat on the outside, or deep water 
side, of the fishing grounds, and easts in toward the feed- 
ing grounds, the oarsman rowing along rapidly or slowly, 
or holding the boat stationary, as circumstances demand. 
The boat being in deep water the fish are not so apt to 
see it, which is a great advantage. The angler can cast in 
any direction and to any distance, greater or lesser, within 
the length of his line, as he may desire. He can cast 
astern and proceed as in trolling, or cast to either side, or 
forward, and by reeling in the line keep the bait in mo- 
tion. It can readily be imagined how expert casting has 
so great an advantage over any other method of bait- 
fishing, and that when once acquired it will never be relin- 
quished for any other mode. 

When a bass is hooked the boatman should pull at once 
for deejD water, for the better management of the fish and 
to prevent its taking refuge among weeds, rocks, snags, 
etc. In deep water the fish has better play and more 
room, and the angler, having fewer difficulties to encounter, 
enjoys more thoroughly the ensuing contest and final cap- 
ture and landing of his quarry. 

If fishing from the banks of a stream, the angler should 
keep as near the level of the water as possible, or, still 
better, he should wade the stream when practicable. He 
should cast below the riffles, near gravelly bars, submerged 
roots or snags, weed patches and projecting rocks in the bed 
of the stream, and under shelving rocks on the banks. 
After striking a bass, he should lead him into deeper water 
if possible, or, at all events, away from dangerous places. 

After casting the minnow, and it alights at a favorable 






ir^ 




^.^^^^^.^M 



PLAYING THE BASS. 



Castixg the Mixnow. 403 

spot^ it should be left for a longer or a shorter time, depend- 
ing on the nature of the water fished, and upon the abund- 
ance, scarcity, and mood of the bass. As the line slackens, 
it should be slowl}^ reeled until the entire line is retrieved. 
Sometimes, when fish are plentiful and biting eagerly, it is 
best to make frequent casts, reeling in rapidl}^ after each 
cast, especiall}' in rather shallow water, so as to give a rapid 
swimming motion to the bait. 

When the bass takes the bait, the angler should let him 
have it from two to ten seconds, according to the mood of 
the fish. If he bites eagerly and wickedly, the angler may 
hook him at once; but if he seems shy, off his feed, and 
inclined to toy with the bait, let him have it a few sec- 
onds, and give him line as he takes it, keeping the thumb 
upon the spool as a drag, however, so as to feel every mo- 
tion of the fish. At the proper time the angler should 
check him by a stronger pressure of the thumb, when, if 
the bass pulls strongly and steadily, and seems inclined to 
run away with the bait, he should be hooked at once by a 
slight turning of the wrist, but not by a violent jerk, or 
by " yanking '' the rod. 

If, however, upon checking the bass, he gives several 
tugs or a succession of slight jerks, it is better to let him 
run a few seconds longer, for he has the bait crosswise in 
his mouth and does not feel the steel; finally, when he 
pulls steadily, hook him as before described The bass 
should never be given time to gorge, or swallow, the bait. 

From the time he first " bites '^ until he is in the land- 
ing-net, he should never be given an inch of slack line, 
under any circumstances. The rod must be held by the 
butt, with the thumb upon the reel, or, if the rod is held, 
in the left hand, the line must be held against the rod, 



404 Book of the Black Bass. 

by the forefinger^ which encircles it, and thus acts as a 
drag. The bass is, of course, hooked by the right, or rod 
hand, and the rod is held in that hand so long as the bass 
is inclined to pull steadily, or take line ; but as soon as he 
shows a disposition to " let up," or turn toward the angler, 
the rod must be taken in the other hand, so as to leave the 
right hand free to use the reel. The bass should loe made 
to feel, constantly, the spring of the rod, which should 
always maintain a curve, hj the tip being held in an ele- 
vated position. The bass should fight for every inch of 
line, and the angler should take it again whenever possible. 
The fish must be killed on the rod. 

Should the bass break water, with a long line, merely 
let the rod straighten as he falls back, so as to slacken the 
line (but it should be recovered immediately when he 
strikes the water), for if he falls across a taut line he is 
almost sure to tear the hook out. If he breaks water with 
a short line, the rod may be elevated so as to keep the line 
above him, following him back as he falls into the water. 

If there is dani^er of the bass getting to the weeds, or to 
the protection of snags, roots, rocks, etc., he must be stopped 
at all hazards. If the rod is a good one, and pliable, the 
angler must not hesitate to give him the butt; this w411 
bring him up standing, with no danger to a first-class rod ; 
but if the rod is a stiff one, turning the butt to him will 
be most sure to break it ; in this case it is best to keep the 
bass away from dangerous places by main strength and 
the natural bend of the rod. If fishing from a boat, great 
caution must be used to prevent the fish from running 
under it, as he will be sure to do if he has the opportunity ; 
and should he succeed, the rod must be quickly passed 
around the stern, or bow if the boat is not anchored, and 




GIVING THE BUTT. 



Casting the Minnow. 407 

the thumb at once released from the reel so as to allow the 
line to run out as rapidly as possible, otherwise a broken 
rod is the result. 

When the fish is thoroughly exhausted, he should be 
landed, and not before. Most anglers attempt to land their 
fish too soon, thus curtailing their sport and endangering 
their tackle. The landing-net should be held several inches 
beneath the surface of the water, and held perfectly still, 
when the angler should bring the fish over it ; then the net 
should be lifted quickly, and with one motion. The angler 
must never, himself, nor allow his assistant to, frighten 
the fish by lunging at it with the net, in attempting to 
secure it. More fish are lost in clumsy endeavors to land 
them, than in any other way. 

The angler should never be in too great a hurry to land 
his fish; for if he is well-hooked he can not get away, 
while if he is hooked in a thin or weak part of the mouth, 
there is a greater necessity that he should be gingerly 
played and tenderly handled, until he is completely "tuck- 
ered out," and turns up his side to the sun. There is 
never any thing gained by too great a hurry in bass fish- 
ing. On the contrary, " the more haste the less speed," is 
a maxim particularly applicable to this case. 

In reeling in the line, whether playing a fish or retriev- 
ing the line, it should be guided on the spool of the reel 
by the left middle finger, when the reel is underneath the 
rod (as it always should be), or by the left thumb when 
the reel is used on top; it should be reeled on regularly 
from left to right, and from right to left, like sewing-cotton 
on a spool. This prevents that " bunching," or piling, and 
the subsequent tangling and snarling of the line, so com- 
mon with beginners and careless anglers. It is just as 



408 Book of the Black Bass. 

easy to reel the line correctly^ and in regular and -uniform 
coils or turns, as to bunch it, if the novice begins right; 
after the habit is once acquired, he does it automatically 
or mechanically. 

There are now reels made with automatic devices for 
level winding of the line, which is -a boon to those who 
can not acquire the skill to guide the line with the finger 
or thumb. They are referred to in the chapter on reels. 



Copyric;lit, i"\„ by The Centl'ry Co. 




THE IDEAL STILL FISHER. 



Still-Fishing. 411 

CHAPTER XXIIL 

STILL-FISHING. 

"And if you rove for a perch with a minnow, then it is best 
to be alive, you sticking your hook through his back-fin; or a 
minnow with the hook in his upper lip, and letting, him swim up 
and down, about mid-water or a little lower, and you still keep- 
ing him to about that depth by a cork." — Izaak Walton. 

What angler's heart does not leap when he thinks of his 
boyish experiences in angling ! We were all " still-fishers " 
then. The boy who began fishing on a small trout stream, 
though, would not tarry long in one spot ; he soon learned 
that he must be a roving fisherman to fill his string. 

But the boy who began on " sunnies/' or red-eyes, or 
^' brim," or gudgeons, or even bull-heads or suckers, im- 
bibed his first lessons in the virtue of patience during his 
pin-feather days of angling. 

What finished, artistic fly-fisher but would gladly hark 
back to those golden days ! What a monument of patience 
he was, and what a fatalist as to luck, and what a firm be- 
liever in the secret, unwritten mysteries of the art, as he 
sat motionless on a rock, or perched upon a gnarled root, 
or lay prone upon a grassy bank, watching his float with 
all the eagerness and expectancy of a kingfisher on his dead 
branch, or an osprey on his cliff ! 

And how well he knew every "hole," and every sub- 
merged rock, and every snag; and just "how deep" to 
place his float, and just how long to let it run before 
" yanking " the fish or his hook into the limb overhead, or 
into the bush behind him ! 



412 Book of the Black Bass. 

And how well he knew every muskrat's run, and every 
kingfisher's perch;, and every bank-swallow's hole; and, 
though watching his " cork " never so intently, how he had 
an eye for every water-snake, and turtle, and bull-frog that 
stirred within ten rods of him! 

And when an unlucky muskrat, or kingfisher, or snake, 
or turtle, or frog showed itself, how he would lay a rock on 
the butt of his " pole," and start in quest of it ; and how 
these mammalian forays, and ornithic sallies, and reptilian 
assaults would rest him; and with what renewed zest he 
would repair to his fishing, and with what consummate and 
enduring faith he would spit on his hook, and resume his 
waiting and watching! 

Oh ! bright, sunny, golden days of youth ! How far — 
how very far we have traveled down the stream since then ! 
We may look back, and through the gaps in the trees, and 
over the low hills catch a sparkle of the stream behind and 
above us ; but, alas ! we can never go back — never return ! 
Our course is ever on, on — and down, down — and the 
stream is ever widening and growing deeper, until it will 
soon be lost in the great gulf of the unknown ! 

I have much sympathy, and great respect, if not down- 
right envy for the still-fisher. There is a juvenility, and a 
childish faith in his methods that are totally unknown, or 
utterly lost to the hlase old hand at fly-fishing, or minnow- 
casting. 

His tastes are as simple, his expectations as great, his 
anticipations as easily satisfied, and his enjoyment as ample 
as in the pin-hook days of the best of us. He is, indeed, 
but a child of larger growth. 

His life may have been saddened with the experience of 
time — his hands hardened with years of toil — his heart 
seared with the inhumanity of man — but he still retains 



Still-Fishing. 413 

the innocence and freshness of his youth when seated at the 
waterside with the " j^eeled sapling " in his stiffened hands 
— the voice of the stream whispering in his ears — its 
moist hreath stealing through his grizzled locks — and its 
rippling smile flashing on his tired eyes ! 

Still-fishing is the most universal mode of angling for 
the black bass. As the name implies^ it consists in throw- 
ing in the baited hook, and waiting patiently for " a bite/" 
the angler, meanwhile, keeping himself and rod as still as 
possible. Fly-fishing is surface fishing; casting the min- 
now is both surface and mid-water fishing; while still-fish- 
ing combines mid-water and bottom fishing. In fly-fishing 
and casting the minnow the bait is kept in pretty constant 
motion, while in still-fishing the bait is left to itself, or 
" still," for a longer or shorter time. Still-fishing on 
streams is best practiced from the banks, while on lakes or 
large ponds a boat is necessary. 

Tackle. 

Still-fishing is often practiced without a reel, and some- 
times without a rod, a hand-line merely being used. When 
no reel is employed the rod should be quite long and light, 
the best being a cane pole from twelve to fifteen feet in 
length. When the reel is used (as it always ought to be) 
the rod recommended for casting the minnow is the best, 
though most still-fishers prefer a longer rod, say from ten 
to twelve feet, as they are not proficient in casting. 

The length of the line for still-fishing depends upon the 
character of the rod. ^ATiere no reel is employed it should 
be of about the same length as the rod; when the angler 
uses a reel, but is indifferent at casting, a line of twenty- 
five yards is sufficient; but when the regular minnow-rod 
is used by a good caster, fifty yards, as in casting the min- 



414 Book of the Black Bass. 

now, should be used. The line in each instance being the 
same as recommended for casting the minnow, except where 
no reel is used, when the smallest size twisted silk line, 
No. 1, is the best. 

Still-fishers usually employ the float and sinker, and 
they may be used or not, according to circumstances, 
though one of the chiefest delights of the still-fisher is to 
watch the maneuvers of his float. Where the stream is 
shallow and full of snags, or the bottom covered with moss 
or grass, a float is necessary; and where the current is 
quite swift, or the water deep, and the bait-minnow large 
and strong, a sinker must be used to keep it beneath the 
surface. 

Baits and Baiting. 

While a minnow is the best bait for casting, other baits, 
as the helgramite, crawfish, frog, cricket, grasshopper, etc., 
are as good, and sometimes better, for still-fishing. As a 
rule, the bait that is the most plentiful in the waters fished 
will be found the most successful. The helgramite is a 
capital bait, either early or late in the season, when the 
bass are on the ripples on in shallow water. It is a flat, 
dark, repulsive-looking worm, some two or three inches 
long, and a half-inch wide (the larva of the horned cory- 
dalis), and is found under boulders, flat stones, decaying 
timbers, etc., in shallow streams. It is variously called 
helgramite, dobson, hellion, kill-devil, grampus, crawler, 
etc., and is best hooked by passing the hook under the cap 
covering the neck, from behind forward, bringing the hook 
out next to the head. 

The crawfish, especially when casting its shell, when it 
is called " peeler ^' or " shedder," is a good bait. In its 
usual state it is best hooked through the tail; peelers can 



Still-Fispiing. 415 

be hooked through the head or body. Grasshoppers, crick- 
ets, frogs, etc., are used with varying success in still-fishing, 



General Instructions. 

As the still-fisher never casts his bait very far, it is 
highly important that he keep as still and motionless as 
possible ; and, if fishing from a boat, must avoid striking it 
with his feet, his rod, or the oars, as such sounds are heard 
very distinctly by the fish. He should fish tow^ard the 
sun, so as to keep his shadow behind him. He should 
keep his line as taut as possible, with his thumb always 
upon the spool of the reel (if he uses one), and as the line 
becomes slack, should reel it in. 

In fishing a lake or pond, the still-fisher anchors his 
boat in a favorable spot, which should be in rather deep 
water, just off a shoal or bar, ledge of rocks, or point of 
land, or near beds of rushes or lily-pads, so as to fish be- 
tween the boat and the feeding grounds, that is, between 
deep and shallow water, and near enough to cast his bait 
quite up to the haunts of the bass, whenever necessary. 

If his minnows are lively and strong, and carefully 
]iooked, it is advisable not to make frequent casts, but 
rather to suffer the bait to remain, so long as it keeps in 
motion, for a lively minnow will attract a bass anywhere 
within thirty feet, in tolerably clear water. If helgramites 
or crawfish are used for bait, they must ])e kept gently 
moving, at times, by the rod. 

The management of hooking, playing, and landing a 
bass is just the same as described in the preceding chapter, 
except where a reel is not used, in. wdiich case the bass 
should be killed on the rod, all the same, though the angler 
must use a great deal of judgment in managing his rod. 



416 Book of the Black Bass. 

to thoroughly enjoy the sport, which is considerable where 
the rod is long, slender, and light. 

He should lead his fish, at once, into deep water, where 
it must be held until tired out. It should be kept in mid- 
water, not suffered to go to the bottom, nor encouraged 
to approach the surface. He should lead it to and fro, to 
the left and right, whenever possible, for by keeping the 
fish in constant motion it soon tires him out, and subserves, 
to some extent, the j^urposes and uses of a reel. 

In still-fishing a stream, the angler should stand, or sit, 
as near the level of the water as possible, never fishing 
from a bold bank or other elevation, unless well screened 
from the observation of the fish. He should keep quiet 
and still, when he may possibly be mistaken for a stump 
or other inanimate object. He should leave his bait in the 
water for long intervals, only moving it occasionally, by 
slow, cautious and gentle manipulations, and in every other 
respect remember that he is " still-fishing," and govern 
himself accordingly; for too much caution can not be 
exercised in this mode of angling. 

The noisy " fishing party," which indulges in load talk- 
ing, shouting, and laughter, and has a " good time " gen- 
erally, no doubt thoroughly enjoys itself in its own way, 
but will take but few fish ; it is the " lone fisherman " who 
is always successful, for obvious reasons. 

A Retrospection. 

An old negro house-servant and a bright-eyed, fiaxen- 
haired boy of eight summers sat side by side under a mill- 
dam, on a Kentucky stream, fishing. The old man was en- 
gaged in earnest conversation, to which the lad was an 
eager listener, save when interrupted by the pulling out of 
a fish or the re-baiting of a hook : 



Still-Fishing. 417 

" Yaas, Percy Lee, it's jist wasteful 'stravagance fer 3-0' 
paw to buy sich lavish, shiny fish-poles an' silvah reel con- 
trapshuns dat run riot wdd his money. All de fish in de 
Elkhorn wouldn't 'gin to pay intrust on 'em. He's de beat- 
enes' man for 'stravagance I ebber see. 

" De bestes' fish-pole is de strettes' an' slimmes' ellum 
saplin' you kin fine; cut in de fall in de lite ob de moon, 
an' peeled in de shade, an' put up in de lof nex' to de cabin 
chimbly all wintah. An' de bass an' chan'1-cat won't know 
wedder it cos' two cents or de price ob a yearlin' mule, case 
you yank 'em out so quick dey ain't got time to tink 'bout 
it." 

" Yes, but Uncle Enoch, papa don't like to yank 'em out 
so quickly." 

" No, honey, an' dat's wat beats me. He J is' goes 
a-wadin' in de water — an' he'll done ketch his deff 0' rheu- 
matiz one ob dese days — a-whippin' his lil' shiny switch, 
an' a-fiippin' his fiddle-string line wid lil' teenty fedder- 
flies, an' de bass ketch holt, an' ben' an twis' de lil' pole, 
an' run off wid de line — an' Mars' Dick wind 'em up agin, 
an' de bass pull out de line agin, an' jump out to see wat 
gwine to happen nex', an' dey hav' mo' fun dan a bag full 
0' monkeys at de circus." 

" But papa says he used to fish with cane poles and min- 
nows. Uncle Enoch." 

" Yaas, Percy Lee, wen Mars' Dick was a lil' lam', jis' 
like yo-self, he use' to sot in dis same place wid me, an' 
laws-o'marcy wat gorms 0' bass, an' new-lites, an' chan'l 
cats we use' to snek out ! But aft-a-wile he growed up an' 
den he marri'd Mis' Alice, an' dat quiled his fishin'. 

"An' den de wah cum on, an' yo' paw went away to fite 
wid de sogers, when yo' was a teenty lil' baby; an' Mis' 
27 



418 Book of the Black Bass. 

Alice use' to cum heah a-fishin' wid me, an' Liza Jane wud 
brung de baby. But Mis' Alice nebber cud larn to fish; 
she jis' kep' me a-tellin' how yo' paw use' to fish when he 
was a lil' boy, an' wat he wud say, an' wat he wud do; an' 
she'd des go an' sot on dat ole sycamo' root — whar you 
settin' now — whar he use' to fish; an' de big tear-drops 
wud roll down her pink cheeks ebery time I ketch a fish, 
an' she wud run an' grab de baby — dat was you — an' 
hug you up, an' kiss you, and den want me to begin all 
ober agin. You see, honey, she was so chicken-hearted she 
cudn't bar to see de red-eyes an' new-lites a-floppin' on de 
hook. An' no matter how offen I 'splained to her how 
Mars' Dick use' to ketch 'em, an' how I ketch 'em, she des 
was too tender-minded to larn. 

" Den yo' paw cum home af tah de wah, an' brung a lot 
o' highfalutin noshuns wid him. An' de nex' summah a 
Yankee kurnel fum 'way up norf cum a-visitin' an' he 
showed Mars' Dick how to fish wid shiney switch poles an' 
fedder-flies. 

"An' now Mars' Dick drags Mis' Alice wid him, an' she 
goes trapesin' 'long de sho' wid de baskit — an' she'll ketch 
her deff o' dampness sum day, you hear me — an' she 
watches him sling dem fedder-flies, an' claps her han's an' 
laff s, an' sez : ' Good boy ; well dun, Dick ! ' 

"An wen de bass is tucker'd out Mars' Dick shuv a little 
roun' net under him^ an' raps him on de haid, an' totes him 
a-sho'; an' den him an' Mis' Alice sot dar an' look at it, 
an' yo' paw smoke his pipe, an' he tell Mis' Alice 'bout de 
fish jis' lak I use' to talk to him when he was a lil' lam' 
like yo' ownself ; an' dey dun spoon jis' as foolish as 'fo' dey 
was marri'd. 

"An' Mis' Alice she meks de fedder flies fer Mars' Dick, 
now — she nebber did cotton to wums, an' crawfish, an' 



Still-Fishing. 419 

crawl-debbils — an' she nebber cries now when de bass 
snaps 'em. But, honey, he can't fool de chan'1-cat wid 'em ; 
no, my young marstah, Mistah chan'1-cat is too wise in dis 
gen'ration o' vipers fer dat. He wants a fat soft craw, or 
a piece of fresh libber. Gib him vict'ry or gib him deff. 

'^ Cum, honey, we dun got a good mess o' pan-fish, less 
be gwine home ; Mistah crow dun lite out f o' his roost long 
time ago.'' 



420 Book of the Black Bass. 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

TROLLING. 

"And then you are to know that your minnow must be so put 
on your hook that it milst turn round when 'tis drawn against the 
stream." — Izaak Walton. 

Trolling with the Eod. 

Trolling with the rod, and with the artificial fly, the 
live minnow, or the spoon for bait, is capital sport ; and is 
a very popular style of angling on the lakes and lakelets 
of the western states. It is more en regie than still-fish- 
ing, and is, besides, more exciting sport, possessing advan- 
tages over the latter method in several respects. 

The angler can fish with a long line, even though he be 
indifferent at casting; for, as the boat moves along the 
line can be pulled off from the reel, yard by yard, with 
the hand, while the resistance of the bait, in the water, 
takes it from the rod. The bait being in constant motion 
is more likely to be seen and taken by the fish than in still- 
fishing ; while the great length of line takes the bait so far 
from the boat as to remove or quiet any suspicions or ap- 
23rehensions of danger on the part of the wily bass. 

Then, the boat not being anchored, as in still-fishing, 
the boatman can favor the angler in many ways Avhen play- 
ing or landing his fish. Then, again, in moving over so 
much and so great a variety of ground, the angler is more 
apt to find where the bass are feeding, and thus to know 
just the character of the ground and depth of water to try 
successfully on each particular occasion. And, lastly, it 



Trolling. 421 

secures a constant change of location, and adds enough of 
the spice of variety to satisfy the most impatient angler. 

The minnow-casting rod, previously described, is the one 
best adapted to this or any other mode of bait-fishing, 
though any light and pliable rod, not exceeding ten feet in 
length, will answer. A stiff and unyielding rod should 
not be used, for the sudden and violent " bite " of the bass, 
in this method of angling, with the rod ever bent, and taut 
line, would be very likely to break it, unless the rod were 
of the hoop-pole pattern. 

The only lines admissible here are the braided raw or 
boiled silk line, and the braided linen line; twisted lines 
can not be used at all on account of their kinking. The 
caliber should be a size larger than recommended for cast- 
ing the minnow, which, in silk lines, Avould be sizes F, or 
N'o. 4, and G, or No. 5; and, in linen lines, G, or No. 5. 
The length should be fifty yards. 

It is best to use a leader about six feet long, with 
either flies, the minnow or spoon. The float should not 
be used. One or two swivels are necessary; but, usually, 
no sinker is required. 

If artificial flies are used for the troll, a gut-leader, six 
feet in length, and two flies, may be employed ; or, a nine- 
feet leader, and three flies, as preferred by some. The 
flies should be placed about three feet apart on the leader. 
An attractive combination of varieties in the flies should 
be observed. 

A very good assortment would be for the tail-fly a 
'^ coachman ;" for the first dropper a " grizzly king," and, 
lastly, an "Abbey." Another good troll would be a " pro- 
fessor " for tail-fly, a " Montreal " next, the third a " brown 
hackle." But, of course, other flies will be used by the 
angler as found more attractive and killing, for different 



422 Book of the Black Bass. 

waters often require different flies, in trolling as well as in 
fly-fishing. 

Three split shot, No. 1, should be placed at equal dis- 
tances along the leader, so as to keep the flies submerged 
from one to two feet below the surface. The boat should 
be propelled quite sloAvly in trolling with flies, so as to 
permit their sinking to the proper depth, and, likewise, to 
enable them to be easily seen by the fish. 

If the first bass hooked takes an upper fly, by playing 
him judiciously and cautiously, one, or even two, addi- 
tional bass may often be induced to take the lower flies, 
though I do not advise this plan with a light rod; one at 
a time will afford better sport. 

If a spoon-bait is to be the lure, only the smallest sizes, 
as fly-spoons, or trout-spoons, should be employed, with a 
single hook. Usually, no sinker will be needed, but one 
or two swivels should always be used — one next to the 
spoon, and the other several feet above it. In trolling 
with the spoon, the boat should move at a sufficient rate 
of speed to cause the spoon to revolve rapidly a foot or 
two beneath the surface of the water. 

In trolling with the live minnow, but one hook should 
be used. Give a wide berth to the English abominations 
known as spinning-tackle, gangs, traces, etc., consisting of 
from three to a dozen hooks, arranged in groups of three, 
with single hooks for impaling the minnow. A single 
hook is sufficient for all purposes. The live or dead min- 
now may be hooked through the lips ; or, perhaps, the best 
way for trolling, with a dead minnow, is to pass the hook 
through the mouth and out at the gill-opening, then carry 
it back and insert it just behind the dorsal fin; a needle 
armed with a strong thread is then passed through the lips 
of the minnow, and tightly tied to the snell, this obviates 



Trolling. 423 

the use of the lip-hook ; a minnow will spin as well hooked 
in this way as with the most approved spinning-tackle. 

The angler, with his boatman, in trolling with the rod, 
proceeds in a boat over the fishing-grounds, with from 
twenty to thirty yards of line out. The rod must be held 
with the tip elevated, so as to keep it constantly curved, 
and the thunil) should be applied to the spool of the reel 
so as to be ready at any moment for the violent rush of* 
the bass, for he bites very wickedly at the moving bait. 
The fish must be hooked at once, though he usually fastens 
himself. If the angler has a long line out he must reel 
in his fish as soon as possible, until he has him within 
proper bounds, when he can kill him at his leisure. The 
manipulation of the bass after he is hooked is just the 
same as described in the chapter on casting the minnow, 
to which the reader is referred. 

It is useless to troll in deep water, far from shore; it 
should only be practiced in water from three to ten feet 
deep, following the trend of the shore, as far as possible, 
where the proper conditions exist, which are given in a 
previous chapter. 

Trolling with the Hand-Line. 

Trolling with the hand-line is a very tame and simple 
mode of angling; in fact, is the most simple method prac- 
ticed, there being no skill, whatever, required in luring or 
in manipulating the bass after he is hooked. It is a very 
questionable style of sport, at best ; and considered in this 
light, is exceedingly flat, and savors strongly of pot-fishing. 
It is indulged in on lakes, ponds and broad rivers, niostly 
by boys and those unfortunates who can not, or will not, 
learn to handle the rod. 



424 Book of the Black Bass. 

With a good breeze and a fast-sailing boat, trolling for 
bluefish, weak fish, Spanish mackerel, and other marine 
fishes, with hand-line and squid, is exciting sport ; but, on 
the bosom of a quiet lake, trolling for black bass with 
hand-line and spoon is a cruel pastime and a wanton de- 
struction of a noble fish. It is only excusable when in 
camping out, without suitable tackle, and when, like the 
boy digging at the tenantless woodchuck hole, one is " out 
of meat," which, in southern parlance, constitutes "a 
ground-hog case;'' in this event, perhaps, the end justifies 
the means. 

The necessary tackle for this mode of angling consists 
of a strong hand-line of linen or cotton, from fifty to 
seventy-five yards long; braided lines are to be preferred, 
as they do not kink. The line should be large enough to 
prevent cutting the hands, and, at the same time, to with- 
stand the dead strain of a lively fish. Sizes C, or No. 2, 
and D, or No. 3, are the best and most suitable. 

xA.ny of the numerous revolving spoon-baits, or spinners, 
will answer with or without the so-called " fly," or tuft of 
feathers, or braid, for it is the liright metal spoon that lures 
the bass, and it can not be made more attractive for hand- 
trolling by the addition of feathers, braid, etc. 

The ordinary original tin or brass spoon, with single 
hook soldered on, is about as good as any of the later 
inventions. A single hook is certainly preferable to the 
groups of two or three, usually attached to spoon-baits, 
the latter often being crushed or broken by the jaws of a 
large fish, to say nothing of their cruelty, as mentioned on 
a preceding page. 

Small spoons are more successful than large ones, for 
black bass. In the absence of a spoon-bait, the floor of 
the mouth of the pickerel, cut into the semblance of a fish, 



Tkolling. 425 

is tough, white and glistening, and is a good substitute; a< 
similar strip, cut from the belly or side of a fish, also 
answers a good purj^ose. One or two swivels should 
always be used with trolling-baits ; a sinker is seldom 
necessary. 

With this simple outfit, early in the season, before the 
aquatic weeds and grasses are fully grown, this mode of 
fishing is quite successful. The method of procedure is 
as follows: 

The angler sits in the stern of the boat, and, while the 
oarsman rows at a moderate rate of speed along and over 
the feeding-ground, he runs off forty to sixty yards of 
line; the spoon revolving gracefully beneath the surface 
proves an effective lure. A violent jerk on the line an- 
nounces the fact that an unfortunate bass has " hooked 
himself;" often he will leaj) into the air, vainly endeavor- 
ing to shake the glittering deception from his jaws, but 
his efforts usually serve to fix the several hooks more firmly 
in his mouth, and j^rovided he does not crush them or tear 
them out and escape, he is " hauled in," hand over hand, 
by muscle and main strength, without a single chance for 
his life — dragged to an ignoble death by a hand-line and 
spoon. 

Many years ago I was attracted to Gogebic Lake and 
Eagle Waters in northern Wisconsin to investigate the so- 
called " razor back " black bass of Gogebic, which was said 
to be a new species, and the mascalonge of Eagle Waters. 
I found the former to be only small-mouth bass infected 
with tape worm, and the latter to be a true mascalonge. 

At that time Gogebic Lake was somewhat famous on ac- 
count of its great numbers of black bass, and the ease with 
which they could be caught. While there I witnessed 
scenes and heard of acts that should bring the blush of 



426 Book of the Black Bass. 

shame to the cheek of the most hardened; and yet they 
were perpetrated by men calling themselves anglers, or at 
least fishermen, for there is a difference in degree as well 
as in kind of those claiming allegiance to the " gentle " art. 

On the first evening of my arrival I saw two large piles 
of black bass, enough to fill several barrels, burnt by the 
guides at the edge of the lake. Nine-tenths of them were 
caught with the hand-line and trolling-spoon by anglers — 
Heaven, save the mark ! — who were fishing for count, or 
vying with each other as to who should bring in the greatest 
number. 

It is no excuse to say that the bass were there to be 
caught, or that the parties knew no better. They would 
have resented warmly any imputation that they were other 
than humane, conscientious sportsmen. I will give a scrap 
of conversation that I overheard on the hotel veranda that 
evening; the reader can then judge for himself and draw 
his own conclusions. 

" Well, old man, what luck to-day ? " 

" Bully ! I took in out of the wet a hundred and twent}^- 
five bass, and would have had more but I lost all of my 
spoons. Then I went ashore and shot three or four ^ por- 
kies ' with my pistol ! '^ 

Now here was a bloody-minded butcher who was not con- 
tent, with the help of his boatman, with slaughtering over 
a hundred bass with the spoon, but who had the effrontery 
and insolence to brag of it before gentlemen; and to cap 
the climax of his truculence he boasted of shooting several 
innocent porcupines, a harmless, clumsy animal that can 
not get out of one's way, and whose only means of defense 
is to hump up its back and erect its quills ; an animal that a 
sportsman never thinks of molesting. 

" Pshaw ! " chimed in a young man, who with several 



Trolling. 427 

companions had been camping down the lake for a week, 
*^'we shot nearly fifty in a week near our camp; they 
gnawed the axe-handle and chewed up a pair or two of 
boots, and we started in to clean 'em out ! " 

And these young men had probably time and again re- 
sponded to the commandment, " Thou shalt not kill," with 
" Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep 
this law." 

Now, I do not pose as an examj^le, or as l^eing any better 
than my fellows, for I am not, but I do hold that the 
wanton killing of the meanest creature is murder. xVt the 
same time, I can kill any animal — mammal, bird or fish — 
with clean hands and Avith a clear conscience, when done in 
a sportsmanlike manner, and w^hen it can be utilized. 

I assure the reader that the scrap of conversation given 
above is a mild sample of what I actually heard that even- 
ing. Some boasted of killing even more bass than the in- 
dividual mentioned, but I believe they added lying to their 
other accomplishments. 

Then there were grouse and deer killed out of season — 
does still in milk, and grouse-hens wdth half-grown broods 
— but enough; these men were what they seemed, mere 
pretenders to the name of angler or sportsman, such as 
one is apt to meet at any summer hotel where there is 
fishing or shooting; men who under the guise of innocent 
sport indulge their thirst for blood and murder; men who 
are set and confirmed in their ways, and for wdiom there is 
no hope of improvement or reform. 

But there are new hands who do these things thought- 
lessly, and by the force of bad example, and it is for their 
benefit that I have written what might otherwise be deemed 
out of place, here. 



428 Book of the Black Bass. 

CHAPTER XXV. 

SKITTERING AND BOBBING. 

" Then, if you get a grasshopper, put it on your hook, with your 
line about two yards long; standing behind a bush or tree, where' 
his hole is, and make your bait stir up and down on the top of 
the water." — Izaak Walton. 

Skittering. 

" Skittering " is best practiced with a long and light 
natural cane rod, from twelve to fifteen feet long, and a 
strong line of nearly the same length. No reel is used, 
for, like " bobbing," this mode of fishing is only success- 
ful in grassy and weedy situations, where the water is com- 
paratively shallow, notably, in the lagoons and bayous of 
the extreme south, and where the fish must be landed as 
soon as possible after Ijeing hooked. To the end of the 
line is attached a small trout-spoon, or the skittering- 
spoon, which is still smaller, being the smallest revolving 
spoon made. 

The modus operandi is as follows : The angler stands in 
the liow of the boat, which is paddled or poled by the boat- 
man as noiselessly as possible, just outside of or along the 
channels of clear water, among the patches of rushes, lily- 
pads or bonnets. The angler, by means of the long rod 
and short line, skitters or skips the spoon along the sur- 
face of the water with a jerky or vibratory motion, causing 
it to spin and glance close up to the edges of the weeds, 
where it is viciously seized by the bass, who has been* 
lying in wait among the water lettuce, or under the broad 
pads of the water-lily, for just such an opportunity. 



Skittering and Bobbing. 429 

The angler has now no tin;e to lose, but must rapidly 
draw the bass along the surface of the water to the boat, 
into which he must be lifted at once, for he is as good as 
gone if he gets below the surface, among the weeds; nor 
must he be allowed to leap into the air with so short a 
line, but he must be dragged quickly along the surface, 
with his head above the water, until the line can be taken 
hold of close to the hook, or the finger hooked in the gill- 
opening, and the fish dexterously lifted over the side of the 
boat. A landing-net is seldom used. 

In such situations, skittering is exciting sport, and is 
not without its attractions. The bright glancing spoon, 
the expert and skillful management of the rod, the mighty 
rush and splash of the bass as he snaps up the shining 
bauble, and his subsequent lashing and floundering as he 
is irresistibly drawn toward the boat, vainly endeavoring 
to get either in or out of the water, and the final adroit 
manner of landing him, go far toward making this a legiti- 
mate sport, as it undoubtedly is, in the localities men- 
tioned, inasmuch as reel-fishing can not be practiced for 
reasons before given. 

Bobbing. 

" Bobbing " is another style of angling peculiar to the 
section of country just mentioned, and though it can not 
be regarded as so artistic or legitimate, it is far more kill- 
ing than skittering. It is a mode of fishing especially 
adapted to the waters of the Gulf states, where it is much 
practiced. The implements for bobbing are few and sim- 
ple, consisting merely of a strong rod from twelve to fifteen 
feet in length, two or three feet of stout line, and the 
" bob," heretofore described in Chapter xvii. 

I can not explain this method of angling better than 



430 Book of the Black Bass. 

to quote from Bartram, wh« wrote of the " trout " (black 
bass) of Florida and the way of taking -them with the 
bob, in 1764, as follow^s : 

" They are taken with a hook and line, but without any bait. 
Two people are in a little canoe, one sitting in the stern to steer, 
and the other near the bow, having a rod ten or twelve feet in 
length, to one end of which, is tied a string line, about twenty 
inches in length, to which is fastened three large hooks, back to 
back. These are fixed very securely, and tied with the white hair 
of a deer's tail, shreds of a red garter, and some parti-colored 
feathers, all which form a tuft or tassel nearly as large as one's 
fist, and entirely cover and conceal the hooks; that is called a 
' bob.' The steersman paddles softly, and proceeds slowly along 
shore ; he now ingeniously swings the bob backwards and forwards, 
just above the surface and sometimes tips the water with it, when 
the unfortunate cheated trout instantly springs from under the 
reeds and seizes the exposed prey."' 

I have many times seen the bob used in Florida just as 
described by Bartram more than a century ago, and it is 
just as effective to-day as it was then. If there is any 
thing in the notion of certain angling authorities, that fish 
after a time become educated or accustomed to certain ar- 
tificial baits, as flies, etc. — becoming first suspicious, and 
finally refusing them altogether, then the black bass of 
Florida must be very dull of comprehension, must have 
sadly neglected their educational privileges and opportuni- 
ties, or else the said "theory," like many another from 
" across the herring pond," originated in the fertile brain 
of some unfortunate angler to account for an empty creel. 

Once, when in Florida, two of us had gone several miles 
up a river one day for deer and turkeys. When the sun 
was nearly dow^n we had one deer, and had located several 
more, and also had found a turkey-roost near by. We con- 



Skittering and Bobbing. 431 

eluded, instead of returning down the river to camp, to 
build a fire and sleep under a tree, so as to be on the 
ground at daylight in the morning, with the strong prob- 
ability of another deer or several turkeys. 

We did not wish to cut into the venison, as we intended 
to give it to a " cracker " family near our camp, the head 
of said household being down with " the shakes." We had 
only the liver of the deer for supper, and wishing to var}'' 
it with some other viand, concluded to try for a black bass 
in the river. 

Happening to have a fish-hook in my pocket, I cut off a 
piece of the deer's tail, and made a " bob." Then, cutting 
a long, slender pole, and tying the bob to the end with a 
piece of strong twine some three feet long, we got into the 
boat, my comrade paddling and I manipulating the bob. 

The sun was at the edge of the horizon, a huge ball of 
crimson fire, the atmosphere being somewhat smoky from 
fires kindled by the Indians to burn off the old grass in 
order to make a fresh " burn " for the deer to feed on. 

The river expanded just above into quite a shallow lake, 
well grown with lily-pads, bonnets and saw-grass, through 
which meandered several channels of open water. As we 
approached the lake, toward the sun, it seemed that these 
channels were filled with liquid fire, and the occasional 
leaping of a mullet, or dropping in of a small alligator, 
served to heighten this effect, and to simulate sparks and 
flames. The pure white wings of the egret, as it flitted 
over the water, seemed like miniature sails on a rubescent 
sea. 

As my companion noiselessly paddled the boat along the 
fringe of rank grasses and luxuriant aquatic vegetation, T 
danced the bob along and over the water, now low, now 
high, and now dipping in the water — skimming, leaping 



432 Book of the Black Bass. 

and flying — till it seemed an uncanny thing, as indeed 
it was, a cervine ignis-fatuus, a hirsute will-o'-the-wisp. 

Several bass rose to it, and swirled at it, until one more 
active than the rest grabbed it by a vicious lunge, and the 
hook was firmly implanted in his jaw. It was the work of 
but a minute to land him in the boat, and he was soon 
joined by another, when we repaired to our camp-fire which 
was now throwing a cheerful, ruddy light on the pines and 
23almettoes. 

This was one of the occasions when the "bob," or the 
skittering-spoon, or the trolling-spoon may be legitimately 
used ; for we not only took great pleasure in the novelty of 
the sport, but we enjoyed a rich repast that night after 
roasting the bass in their scales in the hot ashes, broiling 
the deer's liver on a split stick, grilling a few crackers of 
hard-tack, and making a cup of hot, strong coffee — leaving 
enough for a cold breakfast at daylight in the morning. 



CoxcLUDixG Eemarks. 433 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 

There is a right way, and, yer contra, a wrong way, to 
do every thing. I have endeavored in tlie preceding pages 
to point out the right way of doing things pertaining to an- 
gling, but I feel that my duty would be but half accom- 
plished did I not give some advice relative to the proper 
use and care of fishing tackle, before taking leave of my 
reader. I am the more impelled to do this from the fact 
that I have seen so many fine and elegant rods, reels, and 
lines improvidently ruined, through sheer carelessness in 
most instances, and through ignorance in others. 

Every angler should, himself, look after the welfare of 
his tackle, and not trust it to the care of guides, boatmen, 
or servants. Every true angler should do this, con amove, 
as every true sj^ortsman should, himself, clean his gun and 
feed his dogs at the close of a day's shooting, or every true 
sailor, himself, snug and stow his boat when the anchor is 
dropped. As a good workman is known by his jealous 
care and skillful use of his tools, so is a good angler known 
by the way he uses and handles his tackle, a good sports- 
man by the way he uses and handles his gun and dogs, 
and a good sailor by the way he uses and handles his boat. 
It is, therefore, essential that the new hand should know 
the right way, to avoid the wrong way; not only on the 
score of the fitness of things, but on the score of economy, 
for more tackle is hopelessly ruined by a lack of proper 
care,, than by the most severe, though judicious^, use. 
28 



434 Book of the Black Bass. 

Care of the Eod. 

The 7'iglit way to "joint up," or put a rod together, is 
to take the joints, or pieces, from the case, remove the 
plugs, or stoppers, and put them in the pocket ; then attach 
tlie reel to the ])utt, and see that it fits firmly and securel}^, 
and will not be likely to work loose; next wipe the male, 
or inside ferrules of the joints, to insure their being dry, 
clean, and bright, and rub them on the hair, or with a rag, 
with a little vaseline or tallow on it, to prevent the ferrules 
slicking; then the tip and second piece are to be put to- 
gether first, and the butt last. Be particular in " jointing 
up," to place the standing guides, or rings, in a straight 
line with the reel (there are usually small marks or punc- 
tures on the male and female ferrules as a guide), and in 
fitting the joints, do so by inserting the smaller, or male 
ferrule into the larger, or female ferrule, and push home 
firmty, but gently, and be very careful to avoid a twisting, 
or screwing motion, especially with split-bamboo rods, for 
this is not only liable to warp the ferrules, but also to 
separate the strips of such a rod. After the rod is properly 
jointed up, place the butt end carefully on the ground, 
reeve the line through the guides, or rings, and bring it 
down and tie it to one of the bars of the reel by a single 
bow-knot, until ready to attach the cast of flies, or the 
swivel and hook. 

The lUTong way to joint up a rod, and I v:ill describe 
it as I have seen it done, many times, is to put the butt 
and second piece together first; then drop the 1)utt end on 
the ground and shove it to one side, or behind you, and 
then put the tip on, the rod swaying and bending, in the 
meantime, rendering this somewhat difficult to do, but 
which is finally accomplished by twisting or screwing it 
on, the butt boring a hole in the ground, the while; and 



Concluding Eemaeks. 435 

in case no one has stepped on yonr rod (which I have 
seen done more than once), hold the rod perpendicularly, 
and settle the joints by tamping the butt-end on a stone, or 
piece of wood. The reel is yet to be adjusted ; to do which 
you may either rest the tip on the ground in front (using 
it as a boring instrument in this instance), or hold the rod 
horizontally with the butt against the pit of the stomach, 
to the great danger of some one stumbling over your rod, 
or of your striking it against a tree or rock while endeavor- 
ing to ship your reel; and yet I have seen this very scene 
played over and over again by those who called themselves 
anglers. To hold the rod across the body, sitting or stand- 
ing, or perpendicularly, while adjusting the reel, is just 
as awkward and unsafe. 

Eemember, then, to remove the plugs and put them in 
the pocket ; you will have them then whenever you un joint 
3'our rod, for the separated joints should never be left a 
moment without the plugs in the female ferrules; in this 
way you will preserve the proper shape of the ferrules, and 
your rod will always go together and come apart easily, 
provided you keep them clean and smooth. Then, ship 
the reel ; then put the smaller joints together first, and the 
butt piece last. 

The right way to "unjoint,'' or take apart, the rod (I 
will spare the reader the infliction of a description of the 
wrong way) is first to remove the leader, or swivel and 
hook, reel the line on the spool slowly — I say slowly, for 
I have seen the tip of a rod snapped off while the wet 
line was being reeled rapidly, or in a hurry, by its catch- 
ing in one of the rings, or clinging in a coil around the 
tip. The reel may next be unshipped, and the rod wiped 
perfectly dry; all sand, dirt, or fish-scales must be care- 
fully rubbed off, and especially must the ferrules be ren- 



436 Book of the Black Bass. 

dered clean and bright, to prevent any foreign substance 
getting into them when the rod is being nnjointed, for the 
smallest particle of grit or sand may spoil the fitting of the 
rod. The rod must now be taken apart in the reversfe 
order in which it was put together; the butt first, and the 
smaller joints last; in unjointing, pull the joints apart by 
using gentle and steady force, in a straight line, with the 
hands close to the ferrules, when they will separate read- 
ily. Be particular about this, for I have seen an angler 
with the joint against his breast, his hands widely sepa- 
rated, pulling on the two pieces in a curved line, as if he 
would bend the rod around his body, which proceeding 
had a greater tendency to strain and warp the ferrules than 
to separate them. 

Having taken apart the joints of the rod, the plugs are 
next to be inserted, and the reel unshipped. Examine 
each joint, or piece, and if bent, or warped, straighten it 
carefully, and place them in the case, large end down; in 
tying the case, tie it loosely, otherwise 3'ou may bend the 
small joints. Never put your rod away in a damp case; 
should it be wet, dry it thoroughly after reaching home. 

Wlien the rod is put together, never stand it in a corner, 
or lean it with the tip resting against any thing; better 
lay it down flat. In putting a rod away after the season, 
it should be laid on a shelf, or in a flat box. It should 
be kept in a cool room, of uniform temperature, and never 
in a room heated by a furnace or a stove. A dry atmo- 
sphere will cause the joints to shrink, and the ferrules to 
become loose, while a damp, or constantly changing atmo- 
sphere will cause them to twist and warp. The wrappings 
of the guides, rings, or hand-piece should be frequently 
looked to, when in use, and the rod should be varnished 
once or twice during the season. Coach varnish is good, 



CoNCLUDTXG Eemarks. 437 

but the best, perhaps, is a saturated solution of shellac in 
alcohol ; it should be put on quite thin and evenly, and one 
or two coats applied as may be needed, using a soft rag or 
sponge;' it soon dries and is perfectly waterproof. In 
Izaak Walton's day rods were painted, and he gives minute 
directions for preparing the sizing, the paint, and the man- 
ner of applying them. Wood, to preserve its elasticity, 
must be protected from the changes of the atmosphere. 

Care of the Eeel. 

A fine reel should receive as much care as a watch, so 
far as this can be done, consistently, with its use. It should 
never be laid on the sand or bare ground, or exposed in 
any way to favor the introduction of sand or grit into the 
working parts. When not in use it should be kept in a 
box, or in a buckskin or chamois bag. At the beginning 
and end of each season it should be carefully taken apart, 
cleaned and oiled. After use, it should be always wiped 
clean, and rubbed with an oiled rag or chamois skin. 

A first-class reel will last an angler his life-time, with 
proper care. Especially is a multiplying reel to be well 
cared for, as it is more complicated, and has more gearing 
than a click reel. The screw that holds the movable handle 
to the crank should be frequently noticed, to see that it is 
firmly screwed in, otherwise it may come out in casting, 
and both screw and handle be lost. On this account, this 
screw should never be oiled. The drag, alarm, click, or 
by whatever name the " brake " of a multiplying reel may 
be known, should be used only when really necessary, and 
as seldom as possible, for its frequent use wears out the 
gearing of the reel. 

See that the reel fits your rod perfectly and tightly, so 
there will be no shaking, wabbling or coming loose during 



438 Book of the Black Bass. 

a severe strain. If the reel-plate fits the rod too loosely, 
place strips of parchment or card-board between the plate 
of the reel and the groove of the rod, until the reel-band 
will just slip over the plate and hold it firmly. If the reel- 
plate is too long, or too thick for the reel-seat of the rod, 
one or the other, or both, must be cut to fit ; at all events, 
see that your reel fits its seat firmly and securely. 

Always, if you can, use the reel " underneath," with the 
handle to the right side, when reeling the line ; and always 
turn the crank, in reeling, " away " from you, or in the 
direction that the hands of a watch move. It may seem 
unnecessary to mention this latter precaution, but I have 
known it to be used the contrary way. When angling, 
and the fly or bait is in the water, never, for a moment, lay 
the rod down with a turn of the line around the crank of 
the reel to serve as a drag, for I have several times seen 
both rod and reel jerked overboard, and irretrievably lost, 
by just such inexcusable carelessness and stupidity, and 
the savage " bite " of a big fish. 

Care of the Line. 
The line should be thoroughly dried, always, after use. 
This injunction is of the highest importance to the angler. 
The entire line — not merely the portion that may have 
been used — should be stretched between two trees, around 
pegs or nails driven up for the purpose, or wound on a line 
drying-reel, and exposed to the sun and air ; or, if at night, 
or if the day be damp, it should be coiled around the back 
of a chair, and placed near the fire. I can not impress the 
necessity of this care too strongly on the beginner, for he 
will see so many bad examples in those who ought to know 
better, but who habitually put away the reel and wet line, 
to the everlasting injury of both, because it is " too much 



Concluding I^emaiiks. 439 

trouble/' or they arc " too tired/' to perform their boimden 
duty of drying their lines ; such men are " pot-fxshers/' and 
will stand their rods, jointed, up in a corner all night. 
They are on a par with the " pothunter '' who, after a hard 
day's tramp, permits his dogs to go supperless to bed, and 
his gun to remain foul until morning. 

Silk lines are especial!}' lial)le to mildew and rot if put 
away damp or wet. Even waterproof lines should have a 
good airing after use, or they will retain more or less damp- 
ness which in the end will work their destruction. After 
drying a line it should be rul)bed or reeled through a 
woolen cloth to remove any sand, grit or mildew. The 
economy of this whole matter is one thing, and its ex- 
pediency another; the value of a line may be a small 
affair, but the breaking away of a good fish through a 
defective line is a serious event. I once knew a good 
fellow, but a poor angler, who, after a day's fishing, care- 
fully dried a fifty-cent handkerchief for fear it would mil- 
dew, while he left a three-dollar line, wet, on a twenty- 
dollar reel and a thirty-dollar rod, standing in the corner 
all night, because he was "going a-fishing again in the 
morning." 

The line should be thoroughly tested at the beginning 
of the season, along its whole length; and, if not found 
fully up to the standard, should be discarded. It should 
also be tested, occasionally, during the season ; in fact, the 
better way is to test it always before using it. A line that 
will sustain a dead weight of two pounds is strong enough, 
if used with a pliant rod, and no other should be used 
for black bass angling. By examining and testing the 
line, alivays, before using it, it may save much mortifica- 
tion and many a fish. Though you can not lose a fish by 
the breaking of the line — for as Father Izaak says, " no 



440 Book of the Black Bass. 

man can lose what he never had '' — 3'ou can lose your tem- 
per under such trying circumstances, which is worse. 

It would be useless to give any directions for water- 
proofing lines, for it is a very difficult thing t-o do well; 
and, moreover, j^repared lines are now so cheaply and well 
made that it will pay the angler to buy them, if he needs 
waterproof lines. If a line loses its color or tint, it can 
be soaked in strong green tea, or a weak solution of indigo, 
to be well-dried afterward. To take the kink, so far as it 
can be done, out of laid or twisted lines, let them out their 
full length; and draw them loosely through the water, with- 
out hook or sinker, from the stern of a boat as it is rowed 
along, or over the lawn, to be then stretched and dried. 
Never use a reel-line with a knot in it; better, by far, 
make some boy happy by giving it to him to catch perch 
and " sunnies." 

Care of other Tackle. 

Artificial flies should be closely looked after, summer 
and Avinter, to preserve them from their worst enemy — the 
moth. When put away for the winter, see that the fly- 
took, or other receptacle, is j^erfectly clean; dust out the 
leaves and pockets before putting the flies in. See that 
the flies are perfect in feather and snell; reject all that 
are much worn or seem moth-eaten, and those which have 
worn, frayed or otherwise imperfect snells. Place patch- 
ouly, or gum camphor, wrapped in paper, in the pockets 
and between the leaves, and inclose the whole, securel}^, in 
cotton cloth. 

Leaders should be carefully looked to, and only those 
that are perfect retained. Imperfect ones may be utilized 
for snells. Hooks should be kept sharpened, and free from 
rust; it is a good plan to wipe them, after use, with an 



Concluding Remarks. 441 

oiled rag; those that are rusted should he thrown away. 
All tackle, in short, should be kej^t neat and clean. It is 
a great pleasure to the angler to overhaul his tools and 
tackle several times during the winter, to see that every 
thing is all right. A little attention to these details, and 
a following of the advice given in this chapter, will more 
than repay the angler for the price of this book, and may 
inculcate habits of order and economy in the novice 
which will certainly promote his pleasure and happiness, 
and may save him many a dollar if applied to other walks 
in life. 

PARTING WOEDS. 

If this book should be the means of making a single day 
happier in the life of any angler, or of making some 
crooked things straight to the young hand, or of saving the 
life of one bass that might have been otherwise killed by 
illegitimate means or sacrificed to unworthy motives, I 
shall be glad that it is written; for these considerations 
alone, and not for any personal profit or aggrandizement 
has it been penned. 

And though there have been rods, and reels, and lines, 
and other articles of tackle named for me by enthusiastic 
friends, the honor itself has been my only and sufficient 
recompense, for I assure the reader that I have never re- 
ceived, and would scorn to accept, any pecuniary fee or re- 
ward for any thing devised by myself, or made prominent 
by my efforts, for black bass fishing. 

My sole aim and intention has been to elevate the black 
bass as a game-fish, and to provide suitable tackle for its 
pursuit and capture, and to inculcate a more healthful and 
humane and gentlemanly spirit among anglers. 



442 Book of the Black Bass. 

If I have succeeded, in the slightest degree, my work has 
proved, as Walton said of angling, " like virtue, a reward 
to itself." 

And now, in taking leave of the angler, or of him who 
has mentally resolved to become an angler, and who has 
followed me through the pages of this book, I do so with 
regret; for it has been to me a labor of love to describe, 
in my w^ay, the methods and the delights of angling. It 
has revived the memory of many happy days, spread over 
many years of checkered sunshine and shadow. The bright 
pages in the l)ook of memory stand out like the flashing 
stream in the l^right sunlight, while the sorrows are hid in 
the deep shadows of its thickly-wooded glens. 

" With thee conversing I forget all time." I live, again, 
in scenes forever past, but never to be forgotten; with rod 
and reel, again I wander along the upland streams, among 
the cedars and chinkapins, and on the tide-waters and salt- 
marshes of " My ^laryland ;" on Long Island's sea-girt 
shore; on the broad bosom of the St. Lawrence, with its 
thousand emerald isles, and on the charming lakes of the 
Empire State ; among the low green hills of " the valley." 
the broom-sedge of the " Piedmont " section, and on the 
broad bays of the " Old Dominion ;" in the coves and 
bights of the stormy Huron, the treacherous Michigan, 
and the great inland sea, Superior, with its crystal waters, 
and great hills crowned by the scarlet banners of the 
mountain ash ; by the pine-clad rivers of the " Old Nortli 
State;" along the rocky streams of Kentucky and Ten- 
nessee, flecked with the roseate tassels and snowy disks of 
the redbud and dogwood ; among the moss-covered rocks 
of the highland rapids, and under the fragrant magnolia 
and feathery cypress of the silent estuaries of the " Pal- 
metto State " and Georgia ; on the clear, sparkling lakelets 



COXCLLDIXG liEMARKS. 443 

of Wisconsin, glinting and dancing amid fields of golden 
grain and broad green pastures, or hiding in sheltered 
nooks among the tamarac1s:s and black birches; on the 
broad Susquehanna, the blue Juniata, and among the hem- 
locks and maples of the Pennsylvania hills; under the 
moss-draped live-oak and stately palm, amid the orange- 
groves and myrtles, the mangrove and sea-grape, on the 
sluggish streams, the broad lagoons, and along the coral- 
reefs and sunny keys of Florida; under the cool beeches 
and broad sycamore, the graceful elms and lofty cotton- 
wood of the quiet streams of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and 
Missouri; in the cold, crystal streams, gliding among the 
everlasting hills, clothed with tangled forests of balsam 
and pine, in Michigan. It has taken me back even to the 
days of lang syne, when, with a l)it of cock's hackle, tied on 
a pin-hook, and a willow wand for a rod, I first essayed the 
angler's art, and made sad havoc among the minnows, 
chubs and " gudgeons." 

I can only hope that the reader may experience a tithe 
of the pleasure in perusing the foregoing pages, that I 
have done in penning them ; and he will please remember, 
that, though he may differ with me on each and every page, 
I will not quarrel w^ith him; but, should we ever meet, as 
l)rothers of the angle, in some sequestered spot on lake 
or stream, we will, while smoking the pipe of peace, talk 
the matter over coolly, calmly and dispassionately. But 
he may rest assured, that, though all roads lead to Rome, 
and though there are many ways of catching a bass — I 
have traveled some of the roads, and tried most of the 
ways — if he faithfully follows in my footsteps, I trust he 
will never regret it, and never have cause to wish he had 
tried the other way. 



444 Book of the Black Bass. 

And now I leave you, with this injunction; and, though 
I have mentioned it before, I do so at parting, that it may 
be the more imj^ressive: 

Always kill your fish as soon as taken from the 
avater; and ever be satisfied with a moderate creel. 

By so doing your angling days will be ha^Dpy, and your 
sleep undisturbed; and you, and I, and the fish we may 
catch, can say, with the sweet singer of Israel : 

" The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places." 

It is with a sad heart, and an unwilling pen, that I 
now finish the concluding chapter of this book, for I feel 
that it is the last that will ever be added to it. 

There is not much likelihood of there being any occasion 
for adding any thing to it during my life, and it is not 
at all likely that any one will add any thing to it after I 
am gone." 

I feel like one who is making his last cast on a favorite 
pool that he will sec no more forever. A pool that is en- 
deared to him by the fondest associations. A pool whose 
every ripple is a smile, whose every changing mood is a 
look of gladness and delight, and whose steadily flowing 
current seems to beckon him to follow to 

" The imdiscovere'd country, from whose bourn 
No traveler returns." 



the end. 



INDEX 



TO 



SCIENTIFIC HISTORY OF THE BLACK BASS. 



Acanthopteri, 20. 

Agassiz, Louis, 17, 18. 

Aplesion, 27. 

Aplites, 26. 

]?aird, Spencer F., 10. 

Bodianus, 26. 

Bodianus achigan, 5, 26. 32, 30. 

Bosc, M., 4, 15, 16, 18. 24. 

Calliiiriis, 21, 26. 

Calliurus punctiilatiis, 5, 26, 
32, 36. 

Centrarchidae, 26. 

Centrarehus, 27. 

Centrarclms fasciatiis, 9, 27, 
32, 37. 

Centrarehus obscuriis, 9, 32, 38. 

Chronological catalogue, 32. 

Cichlidse, 27. 

Cichla, 27. 

Cichla fasciatus, 6, 17, 27, 32, 37. 

Cichla floridana, 6, 32, 42. 

Cichla minima, 6, 32, 37. 

Cichla ocellaris, 27. 

Cichla ohiensis, 6, 32. 37. 

Cichla variabilis, 6. 18, 32, 36. 

Contrasted differential char- 
acteristics, 29. 

Cope, Edward D., 10, 16. 

Cuvier, Baron, 6, 13, 18. 20, 21. 

Cuvier & Valenciennes, 6, 14, 19. 

De Kay, James E.. 9. 

Differential characteristics, 29. 

Dioplites, 27. 

Dioplites nuecensis, 10, 11, 32, 
44. 

Dioplites salmoides, 11, 32, 41. 



Dioplites treeulii. 11, 32, 44. 
Dioplites variabilis, 11, 32, 36. 
Dolomieu, 21, 22, 38. 
Dolomieu, M., 5, 20, 22, 38. 
Etheostoma, 27. 
Etheostoma calliura, 5, 27, 32, 

30. 
Garden, Dr. Alexander, 4. 
Garlick, Dr. Theodatus. 10. 
Generic characteristics, 28. 
Gill, Dr. Theodore, 10, 13. 
Girard, Dr. Charles, 10. 
Goode, Dr. G. Brown, 11. 
Grystes, 9, 13, 21, 27, 28. 
Grj'stes fasciatus, 17, 32, 37. 
Grj^stes megastoma, 10. 32, 44. 
Grystes nigricans, 10, 17, 32, 

38, 42. 
Grystes nobilis, 10, 32, 42. 
Grystes nuecensis, 10, 32, 44. 
Grystes salmoeides, 37. 
Grystes salmoides, 6, 9, 10, 14, 

15, 17, 32. 37, 41. 
Grystes salmbnoides, 32, 37. 
Giinther, Dr. Albert C. L. G. 
Holbrook, Dr. John E., 9, 

16, 17, 18. 
Huro, 13, 27, 28. 
Huro nigricans, 6, 9, 14, 

32, 42. 
Jordan, Dr. David Starr, 

13, 14, 15, 19. 
Kirtland, Dr. Jared P., 9. 
Lacepede. Count, 3, 4, 5, 

18, 19, 20. 21. 
Labre salmoide, 4^ 6, 24, 36. 



13. 
10, 



27, 
11, 



15, 



[445] 



446 



Index to Scientific History. 



LabridcT, 26. 
Labrus, 26. 
Labrus auritis, 26. 
Labrus irideus, 27. 
Labrus mixtus, 26. 
Labrus salmoides, 4. 12, 14, 15, 
17, 18. 19, 20, 26, 27, 32,41. 
Lepomis, 26. 27. 
Lepomis achigan, 10, 32. 36. 
Lepomis flexuolaris, 5, 27, 32, 30. 
Lepomis notata, 5, 32, 36. 
Lepomis pallida, 5, 27, 32, 42. 
Lepomis salmonea. o, 27, 32, 36. 
Lepomis trifasciata, o, 32, 36. 
Linnaeus, 4. 
Microptere dolomieu, le, 22, 

26, 28. 
Micropterinoe, 26. 
Micropterus, 5, 11, 20, 21, 20. 

27, 28. 

Micropterus achigan. 10. 32, 38. 
Micropterus dolomiei. 3.i. 
Micropterus dolomieu. 5, 6, 11, 

14, If). 18, 19, 20, 32, 33, 35. 
^lioroptorus dolomieu, synon- 

omy, 35. 
]\Iicropterus faseiatus. 32. 37. 
Micropterus floridanus. 11, 14, 

32, 42. 
]\Iicropterus nigricans. 10, 32. 42 
Micropterus, nominal species, 32, 
jNIicropterus nuecensis, 11, 32, 

44. 
Micropterus pallidus, 11, 12, 

32, 42, 43. 



Micropterus salmoides, 10, 11, 
12, 14, 18, 32. 37, 38, 39, 41, 
42. 

]\Iicropterus salmoides var 
achigan, 11. 

Micropterus salmoides var sal- 
moides, 11. 

Micropterus salmoides, synon- 
omy, 41. 

INIicropterus salmonoides. 42. 

Micropterus, sjTionomy, 26. 

Micropterus, synopsis of spe- 
cies, 31. ' 

INIicropterus variabilis, 11, 32, 
36. 

Milbert, M., 6. 

Xemocampsis, 27. 

Rafinesque, C. S.. 5, 14. 

Rhegnopteri, 26. 

Salmoides, 21. 

Scientific history of the black 
bass, 3. 

Serranidae, 26. 

Synonomy and references of 
Micropterus. 26. 

S.^Tionomy and references of 
M. dolomieu, 35. 

Synonomy and references of 
j\I. salmoides, 41. 

Synopsis of species of Microp- 
terus, 31. 

Teleostei. 26. 

Vaillant. Dr., 14, 18, 21. 

Vaillant & Bocourt, 11, 12, 13. 

Valenciennes, M., 6. 



Index to Life History and Angling. 



Aerating water, 270. 
American silk-worm, 219. 
Angling, as a recreation, 316. 

as an art, 311, 312, 313. 

best season for, 326. 

conditions for, 326. 

effect of wind on, 326, 328. 

perfect day for, 331. 

philosophy of, 307. 

pleasures of, 313, 314, 315, 

uncertainty of, 317. 

youthful, 411. 
Artificial baits, 258. 
Artificial flies, 243, 254. 

care of, 440. 

hackles, 246, 248. 

hooks for, 247. 

Japanese. 257. 

list of, 250, 251, 253, 253, 
256. 

rules for, 245. 

successful, 248. 

table of, 249. 

winged, 246. 
Artificial insects^ 266. 

minnows, 265. 
A reminiscence, 380. 
A retrospection, 416. 
Ash, for rods, 129. 
Au revoir, 444. 
Bag, camping, 301. 
Baits, 258. 

bob, 268. 

insects, 266. 

mouse, 266. 

natural, 268. 

spoons and spinners, 258. 
Bait-fishing, 385. 

bobbing, 429. 

casting the minnow, 385. 

skittering, 428. 



318. 



255, 



Bait-fishing — Continued. 

still-fishing, 411. 

trolling, 420. 
Bait lines, 205, 206, 213, 214. 
Bait rods, 145. 
Baits for still-fishing, 414. 
Bamboo, Calcutta, 130. 
Baskets, fish, 280, 281. 

slings, 281. 
Bethabara for rods, 130. 
Biting of fish, 316. 

conditions which govern, 31T. 
Black bass as a game-fish, 338. 

voracity of, 348. 
Boats, 301, 302. 
Bob, 266, 267. 
Bobbing, 429. 

tackle and method, 430, 431. 

in Florida, 431. 
Boots, rubber, 299. 
Buckets, minnow, 286, 287. 
Caliper, gauge, 298. 
Camping bag, 301. 
Cane for rods, 130. 
Capture of the bass, 351, 352, 353. 

354. 
Care of minnows, 270, 271. 

of tackle, 433, 440. 

of flies, 440. 

of leaders, 441. 

of lines, 438. 

of reels, 437. 

of rods, 434. 
Cases, rod, 300. 

reel, 300. 
Casting lines, 219. 
Casting the fly, 365. 

method of, 360, 367, 368, 369. 

overhead, 368. 

sidewise, 369. 

switch cast, 370. 



[447] 



448 



Index to Life History. 



Casting the minnow, 385. 

casting to left, 394. 

casting to right, 395. 

general instructions, 400, 403. 

longest casts, 390, 391. 

making the cast, 393, 398, 399. 

management of hooked fish, 403, 
404, 407. 

rigging the cast, 393. 

tackle for, 387, 391, 392. 
Cecropia silk-worm, 218. 
Cells, pigment, 55, 50, 02. 
Clearing rings, 294. 
Click reel, 176. 

construction of, 170, 177. 
Coloration of black bass, 53. 

causes of, oo. 

changes in, 54. 

inconstancy of, 55. 

influence of age, CO. 

influence of breeding, 01. 

influence of environment, 02. 

influence of food, 56. 

influence of light, 60. 

influence of season, 59, 61. 

influence of water, 59. 

involuntaiy, 62. 

voluntary, 03. 
Colorists, 244. 
Coming bass rod, 148. 
Concluding remarks, 433. 
Conditions governing biting of fish, 
310. 

change of location, 324, 325. 

condition of water, 320, 321, 324. 

electricity, 330. 

fear of enemies, 321. 

hunger, 319. 

influence of moon, 330. 
of rain, 333, 334. 
of season, 320. 
signs of the zodiac, 330. 
state of atmosphere, 320. 
state of wind, 327, 328, 329. 
time of day. 335. 
thunder, 330. 



Corks, 28/ 



589. 



Corvdalis, 271, 272. 
Crawfish, 273, 414. 
live-box for, 287 



Creels, 280. 
Crickets. 274, 414. 

live-box for, 287. 
Culture of black bass, 79. 
DifTerenees, specific, 45. 
Disgorgers, 295. 
Distribution, geographical, 64. 

by transplanting, 67. 

effect of climate on, 65, 66. 

effect of food, 67. 

of physical features, 05. 

of waters, 06. 

original habitat, 65. 
Do fishes sleep, 110. 
Drag handle, 188. 
Dryer, line, 297. 
Extractor, hook, 295. 
Feeding and fasting of fish, 320, 322, 

323. 
Ferrules, rod, 161, 162, 163, 173. 
Fish baskets, 280, 281. 
Fish hooks, 230, 234, 230. 

Aberdeen, 232. 

ancient, 230. 

barbless, 237. 

Carlisle, 232. 

English, 230. 

eyed. 237, 238, 239. 

Japanese, 235. 

Limerick, 232. 

O'Shaughnessv, 232. 

Hedditch, 23L 

Sproat, 312. 

system of numbering, 239. 
Fisliing lines, 205. 
Fishing reels, 174, 183. 
Fishing rods, 127. 

essential qualities, 127. 

material for, 129. 
Flies, artificial, 243, 254. 

hackles, 246. 

hooks for, 247. 

lists of, 250, 251, 252, 253. 

palmers, 246. 

rules for, 245. 

successful, 248. 

table of, 249. 

winged, 246. 
Floats, 288, 289. 
Fly-books, 276, 277, 278. 



Index to Life HistorYc 



449 



Fly-boxes, 278, 279. 
Fly-fishing, 357. 

casting the fly, 361. 

hints and advice, 360, 362, 374, 
375, 3r6, 379, 380. 

literature of, 359. 

on lakes, 362. 

on streams, 361. 

pleasures of, 358. 

rules for, 377, 378. 

where to cast, 379. 
Fly-lines, 210, 212, 213. 
Fly-rods, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171. 

Henshall, 172. 
Food and growth, 80. 
Food of black bass, 80. 

of adults, 80, 81. 

of young, 80, 81. 

S. A. Forbes on, 80. 
Formalists, 244. 
Frogs, 274, 414. 

live-box for, 287. 
Frog-casting rod, 166. 
Gameness of black bass, 50, 338, 340. 

opinions on, 339, 342, 344, 345. 
Gauge, caliper, 298. 
General and sjjecific features, 45. 
Geogiaphical distribution, 64. 
Gogebic Lake, 425. 
Grasshoppers, 274, 414. 

live-box for, 287. 
Greenheart for rods, 129. 
Growth of black bass, 82. 

in Florida, 86, 87. 

in New Jersey, 83. 

in New York, 83, 84. 

in Ontario, 85, 86. 

in the north and west, 82. 

in the south, 82. 

in Wisconsin, 83. 
Gut, silk-Avorm, 216, 217, 218. 
Habits of black bass, 74. 

food and growth, 80. 

guarding eggs and fry, 76. 

hibernation, 87, 90. 

nesting, 75, 78. 

spawning and hatching, 74, 75, 
76. 
Habitat, 50, 64, 65, 66. 
Hackles, 246, 248. 

29 



Hand-line trolling, 423. 
tackle for, 424. 

instructions for, 425. 
Hatching, 74, 76. 
Hearing, sense of, 100, 101. 

B. B. Redding on, 103, 104, 

Dr. Edw. D. Cope on, 104. 

Dr. J. Zenneck on, 107» 

H. G. Parker on, 105, 106. 

Sir Herbert Maxwell on, 108. 
Helgramites, 271, 414. 

live-box for, 287. 
Henshall bait rod, 132, 149, 150, 151, 
154, 157, 338, 389. 

ash and lancewood, 151^ 156. 

bethabara, 155. 

specifications for, 151, 152, 153, 
155. 

split-bamboo, 155. 

steel, 166. 
Henshall fly-rod, 172. 

specifications for, 173. 
Hibernation, 87, 90. 

in Lake Erie, 91. 

in Minnesota, 88. 

in New York, 88, 89. 

in West Virginia, 89. 

in Wisconsin, 87. 
Hook extractors, 295. 
Hooks, 230, 234, 236. 

Aberdeen, 232. 

ancient, 230. 

barbless, 237. 

Carlisle, 232. 

English, 230. 

eyed, 237, 238, 239. 

Japanese, 235, 

Limerick, 232. 

O'Shaughnessy, 232, 

Redditch, 237. 

Sproat, 232. 

system of numbering, 239. 
Hooks, tying to snells, 241, 
Ideal still-fisher, 409. 
Implements, miscellaneous, 276. 
Insects, artificial, 266. 
Intelligence and special senses, 92. 

Dr. Francis Day on, 92, 



450 



In^dex to Life History. 



Intelligence and special senses — 
Continued. 

sight, 93. 

smell, taste and touch, 109. 
Introduction of black bass in Massa- 
chusetts, 68. 

in Connecticut, 68. 

in England, 114, 117. 

in Germany, 118, 119. 

in Holland, 119. 

in Maine, 69. 

in Maryland, 69. 

in New Hampshire, 68. 

in New York, 68. 

in Pennsylvania, 69, 

in Rhode Island, 69. 

in Scotland, 119. 

in Virginia, 69. 
Instructions for casting the fly, 372. 

for bobbing, 429. 

for casting the minnow, 393. 

for skittering, 428. 

for still-fishing, 415, 416. 

for striking and playing, 373. 

for trolling, 423, 424. 
Jam knots, 239. 
Japanese flies, 257. 
Kendal hook scale, 239. 
Kentucky reel, origin of, 183. 
Knife and screwdriver combined, 297. 
Knots, 225, 228. 

becket hitch, 226. 

common, 226. 

for tying leaders, 229. 

invisible, 242. 

jam, 239. 

loop, 226. 

reef, 227. 

tiller hitch, 226. 

water, 226, 227. 
Landing-nets, 281, 282, 283. 
Leaders, 219. 

care of, 441. 

color for, 220, 221. 

loops for, 222. 

testing, 223. 

tying, 223. 
Leader-boxes, 278, 279. 
Level-winding reels, 187. 
Line diyer, 297. 



Lines, 205. 

bait-easting, 205, 207, 208. 
care of, 438, 439. 
dressed silk, 206, 209, 212. 
enameled, 210. 

fly, 210. 

hair, 210. 

linen, 207, 211. 

metal-centej', 213. 

raw silk, 205, 209, 212. 

sea-grass, 214. 

tapered, 211. 

trolling, 215. 

twisted silk, 213. 

waterproof, 212. 
Little giant rod, 163. 

specifications for, 165. 
Live-box, 287. 

Markings of black bass, 54, 55. 
Meek, B. F., portrait of, 198. 
Metal-centered line, 213. 
:\Iilam, B. C, portrait of, 199. 
Minnow-buckets, 286, 287. 
Minnow -nets, 283, 285. 
Minnows, 268, 414, 416. 

artificial, 265. 

care of, 270. 

how to bait with, 269. 

natural, 268, 269. 

phantom, 265. 

preserved, 271, 
Minnow-traps, 284, 285. 
Miscellaneous implements, 276. 
Mouse as bait, 266. 
Multiplying reels, 179. 

construction of, 179, 180. 
Names, vernacular, 50. 

confusion of, 51. 

distinctive, 52. 
Natural baits, 268. 

crawfish, 273. 

crickets, 274. 

frogs, 274. 

grasshoppers, 274. 

helgramites, 271. 

minnows, 268. 

shrimps, 275. 
Nets, landing, 281, 282, 283. 

minnow, 283. 
Non-dowel joint, 160, 162. 



Inbex to Life History. 



451 



Old time rods, 146. 

Origin of black bass fishing, 190. 

of Kentucky reel, 189. 

of split-bamboo rod, 134. 
Palmers, 246. 
Pants, Avading, 299. 
Parting words, 441. 
Phantom minnows, 265. 
Phillippe, Samuel, portrait of, 135. 
Philosophy of angling, 307. 
Pigment cells, 55, 56, 62. 
Pilot, 263. 
Playing a bass, 273. 
Pond culture, 79. 
Portrait of B C. Milam, 199. 

of B. F. Meek, 198. 

of Samuel Phillippe, 135. 

of J. L. Sage, 202. 
Pot-fishers, 426. 
Pot-hunters, 426. 
Potomac river, stocking of, 69. 

Baltimore American on, 72. 

Edw. Stabler on, 71. 

John Eoff on, 70. 

W. W. Shriver on, 70. 
Preserved minnows, 271. 
Range of black bass, 46, 64. 
Redditch scale for hooks, 239. 
Reel, care of, 437. 
Reels, 174, 183, 185. 

click, 176. 

drag-handle, 188. 

epicycloidal, 201. 

Kentucky, origin of, 183. 

level-winding, 187. 

wooden spool, 201. 
Reel cases, 300. 
Reminiscence, a, 380. 
Retrospection, a, 416. 
Rigging the cast, 363, 364. 
RingS;, clearing, 294. 
Rod, care of, 434, 436. 

jointing and unjointing, 435, 
Rod cases, 300. 
Rods, 127. 

ash and lancewood, 151. 

bait, 145. 

bethabara, 155 

cedar, 128. 



Rods — Continued. 

coming bass rod, 148. 

fly, 167. 

frog-casting, 165. 

Henshall, 132, 134. 

improvements in, 131. 

little giant, 163. 

materials for, 128, 129, 130. 

mountings, 161, 164. 

old time, 146. 

steel, 166. 

typical, 149. 
Rubber boots, 299. 
Rules for flies, 245. 
Sage, J. L., portrait of, 202. 
Screwdriver and knife, 297. 
Shoes, wading, 299. 
Shrimps, 275. 
Sight, sense of, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 

99, 100. 
Silk lines, 205, 206. 
Silk- worm gut, 216. 

native, 217, 218. 
Single-hook spoons, 261, 262, 263, 

264. 
Sinkers, 290, 291. 
Skittering, 42 8o 

tackle and instructions, 429. 
Sleep, do fishes? 110. 
Slings, baskets, 281. 
Smell, sense of, 109. 
Snelling hooks, 240. 
Snells, 224. 

gut, 224. 

gimp, 224. 
Snoods, 224. 

Snyder, George, inventor of Ken- 
tucky reel, 191. 

his gaff-hook, 204. 
Spawning, 74. 

in Florida, 77, 

in Ohio, 77. 
Specific differences, 45. 

Fred Mather on, 49. 

in Arkansas, 45, 

in color, 46, 47, 

in fins, 47, 48c 

in Florida, 45. 

in mouth, 48, 

in scales, 48. 



J< 



4521 



IxDEX TO Life History, 



Specific differences — Continued. 

in Texas, 45. 

in Wisconsin, 57. 
Split-bamboo rods, 133, 155. 

in England, 138. 

origin of, 138. 

round and hexagonal, 143, 144. 
Spinners, weedless, 2G4. 
Spoon-baits, 258. 
Spoons, trolling, 258, 259, 200. 

original, 258. 

single-hook, 259. 

triple-hook, 259, 2G0, 261, 2(52, 
263. 
Standard Henshall rod, 154, 156, 

157. 
Steel rod, 166. 
Still-fislu'r, the ideal, 412. 
Still-fishing, 411. 

baits and baiting, 414. 

instructions, 415, 416. 

tackle, 413. 
Stocking waters, 68, 69, 111, 112, 
113, 114. 

transportation, 115, 116, 117. 
Striking, 373. 
Sunny days of youth, 412. 
Swivels, 291. 
Tackle-books, 279, 280. 
Tackle for bait-fishing, 387. 

for fly-fishing, 363. 

for trolling, 421. 

still-fishing, 413. 
Take-apart reels, 182. 184. 
Tapered lines, 211. 
Taste, sense of, 109. 



The capture of the bass, 351. 
Tools, tackle and implements, 123. 
Touch, sense of, 107, 109. 
Transportation of bass 115, 116, 

117. 
Traps, minnow, 284, 285. 
Trolling, 420. 

instructions, 423. 

tackle for, 421, 422, 424. 

with hand-line, 424. 

with the rod, 420. 
Trolling baits, 258. 
Trolling lines, 215. 
Trol ling-spoons, 259. 
Trout, 'brook, decline of, 341, 342. 

causes of, 346, 347. 
Turn-a-frog, 264. 
N'enus and Cupid fishing, 125. 
\'ernacular names, 50. 
Wading boots, 299. 

pants, 299. 

shoes, 299. 
Waterproof lines, 212. 
\Veedless spinners, 264, 
Weight, maxinnim, 85, 86. 
Wood for rods, 129. 

ash, 129. 

bamboo, 130. 

bethabara, 130. 

cane or reed, 130. 

greenheart, 129. 

lance wood, 129. 
Words, parting, 441. 
Ye Old Kentucky Angler, 306. 
Youthful angling, 411. 
Ye Sunberry Fisher, 256. 



